


Assassin and the Sentinel

by AuroraHunter



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Assassin - Freeform, Assassin and the Sentinel, Blood and Gore, Gen, Minor Character Death, My First Fanfic, character torture, sentinel, slow build up
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-10
Updated: 2017-10-01
Packaged: 2018-10-17 07:21:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 23
Words: 55,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10589172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AuroraHunter/pseuds/AuroraHunter
Summary: A year in a room would drive anyone to insanity. A year in a room with your murdered family is enough to split a person in two.Found by the Avengers, Aurora, a powerful former assassin, struggles to put the past to rest and move forward in her life while adapting to their way of doing things. But when the past comes back with a vengeance, Aurora’s morals are tested when she attempts to protect her new family from an enemy grown within her own mind.With the belief that crimes of the past can only be forgiven in death, Aurora’s other half; Hunter enacts a plan to show a hidden world what she is capable of.And she doesn’t have to kill you to destroy you.Disclaimer: We do not own any Marvel Characters.





	1. The Door

**Author's Note:**

> After Director Fury shows the Avenger team a video of a possible enemy faction, they are sent out to investigate. When they arrive however they are greeted by something they didn't predict: nothing...nothing and a large metal door.

_The first thing I remember is pain, that's all. It felt like my body was on fire, frozen and ripped apart all at the same time. I think I heard screaming other than mine but I really can't remember. Darkness surrounds that memory so I'm not sure if it is a memory or just a dream I had one time._  
  
                                                                  ................................  
  
     “Let me introduce you to the team. Our team is a group of six teens, but don't worry because they all have something special. This young girl, Tech, can hack any computer in the whole world, not to mention she is a fair fighter and holds exceptional aim. This boy, Lightning, is the fastest alive, censors can't even detect him as he runs past and of course with his twin blades your enemies won't even know what hit them. Next is Shifter, she can get into anywhere with her shape changing abilities. Flight, is the muscle of the group, and as his name suggests, he can fly. This is the second in command of this little group. We named him Deception thanks to his telepathy, again this will aid in the destruction of your opponents. This bring us to the leader of our small group, yes, she may be a girl but Hunter will never leave a loose end, with her energy manipulation abilities she has the world at her finger tips. All of these teens have been trained to steal, interrogate and kill professionally. If you are interested in their services, contact Victor Steel with the H.A.F.” the video paused.  
     “So... what was that?” Tony Stark looked to Director Fury. “I mean they're a bunch of kids. They can't be older then 15, 16 at the oldest.”  
      “That was the Highly Advanced Fighters unit, and if those kids are half as good as they claim, they may just be coming after you one day.” the director looked at the Avengers sitting around the table in the Helicarrier. “This is the first time we have been able to locate the facility of theirs.”  
      “You want us to do what exactly?” Steve asked glancing around at the small group assembled beside him.  
      “Go in and take them down.” the Director stated simply. Natasha raised an eyebrow but made no other movements.  
      “Do these people have strong warriors like they claim?” Thor questioned, looking at the faces of the teens that were lined up on the screens. He did not to sit at the table with the other members but rather stood cross armed behind them. The team followed Thor's gaze towards the youth's images.  
      “Some of our people were on a lead that we thought might be connected to HAF, those agents were found in one of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s highest security facilities we have. Make no mistake, these people are good.” he looked back to the screens severely.  
      Clint rose from the table silently and strode over to a nearby briefcase, Bruce watched him closely for no discernible reason. Pulling his folded bow from the case, Clint snapped it open. “When do we get there?” He inquired, checking the condition and draw of his bow.  
      Fury turned towards the group massed at the table. “We're there.”  
  
                                                                  ................................  
  
      “This place looks abandoned.” Tony said lifting the face mask to his suit and looked up at the dark building. The walls seemed intact for the most part, and the windows were still there, but they were covered in a thick layer of dirt and dust. Even the air around the tall building seemed somewhat stagnant and altogether uninviting.  
      “Yeah, but we better look around anyway. Director Fury would throw a fit if we didn't.” Clint muttered.  
      “We can hear you.” Maria Hill's voice sounded through the group's earpieces. Natasha glanced over towards Clint and exhaled.  
      The Captain sighed. “We'll search in groups of two.” He ordered, “Clint, Natasha check out the upper levels. Thor, Bruce, search this level and then move to the one below it. Tony, we'll take the bottom floors.” The members nodded and headed in the direction of their designated floors, knowing fully that the faster they were done, the faster they could be out of this dark building.  
  
                                                                  ................................  
  
      Steve and Tony wandered through the damp halls of the building, the only source of light was that which came from Tony's suit, but it did not fully illuminate some of the large rooms that they came across. They remained tense and ready to fight whomever came forth from the shadows.  
      “Tony can you run a scan to find out what's down here?” The Captain's voice broke the silence.  
      “I could.” Tony replied, turning his body to look at him.  
      The Captain scoffed at his tone. “Will you?”  
      “The only thing I found was another sealed room, the only difference being my scanners are having trouble with it. Why, you bored?” Tony said leading the way to the room, Steve only shook his head in irritation.  
      Tony stood in front of the heavy door to the room. Steve walked over to it and laid his ear on it. “Careful, it might bite.” Tony said shooing Steve out of the way, and he started to cut the hinges on the huge metal door with one of his lasers.  
      After ten more minutes of cutting the hinges, the rest of the Avengers had shown up having found nothing, and had begun to wander about the wide hallway, but remained close to each other.  
      “Whatever they have in here they didn't want anyone to find it.” Tony shut off his laser and the others returned to stand in around the door. Tony stepped back, allowing the door to slowly fall to the ground with an ear splitting crash against the silence.  
      “Oh god what is that?” Natasha covered her nose, as did her companions as the horrid smell crept forward thickly from the dark room. Tony had quickly replaced his face mask.  
      “What the hell is in there?” Bruce backed away trying to escape the smell.  
      “It smells worse then a frost giant’s breath.” Thor said, turning his head away from the warm pungent smell.  
      “I got it, Jarvis whatcha got?” Tony said grateful for his mask.  
      “Sir, I found decayed matter and slight signs of life.” Jarvis voice was met with silence.  
      “Jarvis, lights.” The dark room suddenly brightened. White walls were heavily stained with dried blood and what could potentially be identified as six bodies, five of which were heavily mangled and spread across the damp and moldy floor abusively. They were almost beyond recognition as being human. Clint coughed in disgust as Natasha and Bruce looked away, unable to look at the foul mess before them. Tony carefully walked through the scene to the only body that seemed more intact than the others. He slowly bend down and lifted the girl out of the mess, and was surprised by the girl's very light weight. Blood, both dried and non, caked to her pale flesh and long hair, making it impossible to tell what colour it was originally. Scars covered much of her exposed skin, Tony could tell she wasn't recently unmarked and she was alive... barely.


	2. The Team

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Set one year in the past, a younger group of HAF is dealing with a night out of the base.

**1 year ago**  
  
     “Hunter come on.” Cody yelled.  
  
     “Lightning, we are not all as fast as you are.” Hunter called to him.  
  
     “And it saddens me. Anyway, we're off duty now, so stop calling me by my codename, and besides, we need to give you an off duty name too.” Cody teased, running blindingly fast back over to Hunter's side.  
  
     “I don't want anyone to slip up while we're on duty and use a different name.” Hunter said, having to catch up to Cody when he ran ahead once again.  
  
     “Oh come on, We're better then that.”  
  
     “I know. But I'm responsible for everything that happens out there.” Hunter countered as they neared a large metal door which at first slowly crept open, then rapidly burst open the rest of the way.  
  
     “You're back!” Tech rushed out and quickly wrapped her arms around Cody. Her skin was very fair from being inside for so long, but it highlighted her light blue eyes.  
  
     “We only went out for some training.” Hunter shook her head as the two kissed, but they took no notice of her.  
  
     “Sara, love, how is your work fairing?” Cody asked when their kiss finally broke, but he still held her slender frame close to his body. “Come up with any new programs or viruses for us to use in more missions?”  
  
     “Of course I did, what do you think I do all day?” Sara's light blonde hair bounced off her shoulders and she giggled when Cody gently flicked her thin nose. She pulled a small remote chip out of her jean pocket and handed it over to Hunter, who was still watching them.  
  
     “Tech have you written up a report for it yet?” Hunter asked as she took the tiny electronic.  
  
     “Yes Hunter, it's on your desk.” Sara sighed but quickly returned her attention to Cody who had begun to lovingly kiss her neck. Hunter nodded once, turned and headed inside to her office. “She has to relax.” Sara rolled her eyes as she pushed Cody away from her neck softly.  
  
     “Yeah, but we're having a party tonight, she'll unwind.” Cody smirked, looking in the direction Hunter had gone. Together they wandered back in through the metal door.  
   
                                                                    ................................  
  
     “Hunter!” Cody shouted up the wide stone and glass staircase leading to Hunter's office. “Lucas and Amelia are back! Come on, party time!” He spun as he quickly crossed the marble floor in the wide brightly lit room below. His spinning moved him over to Sara where he lifted her up to his chest, she laughed and squirmed as he tickled her.  
  
     Hunter leaned over the glass balcony before she moved towards and down the staircase itself. “Flight, Shifter, welcome back ,your mission was a success I trust?” A nod from them confirmed this. She continued to look at them expectantly.  
  
     Shifter raised an eyebrow and looked at her equally. “The report,” She began, “will be on you desk, eventually.” she finished with a quick and snide smile, then turned away from Hunter, not allowing for her to respond. Flight looked at Hunter apologetically and inched his way around the dark skinned shape shifter, who glared at him with piercing green eyes.  
  
     He leaned in towards Hunter, “It'll be there tomorrow morning.” he whispered, still cautiously watching Amelia, who had moved on to Sara and Cody.  
  
     “Very well.” Hunter muttered back. “But why are we having a party again?” Hunter wasn't a fan of parties. She turned to look at Lucas, he only flashed her a quick smile.  
  
     “Oh Hunter, just have fun.” Amelia returned and violently patted Hunter's shoulder. She grimaced at the contact, and grumbled. She had made it halfway up the stairs back to her office before Lucas' voice called her back down. She sighed and swiftly descended the staircase again.  
  
     “Hunter, we have a surprise for you.” Lucas said, upon her return to the floor he smiled in a way that put Hunter on edge. She cautiously glared at him and kept her distance. They were all trained assassins after all, if they didn't have some discretion they would be dead.  
  
     Yet somehow hands covered her eyes from behind. She froze. “Guess who.” Was whispered lightly in her ear.  
  
     “Deception!” She quickly whirled around to face him, dark brown hair flowing and a frown plastered on her tanned features.  
  
     “Babe, it's Zachery, we're off duty.” Deception furrowed his brow at her reaction and shook his head. His dark blue eyes seemed distracted somewhat, but he put a smile on his face anyway. Tilting his head to the side his black hair fell over one of his eyes. Deception poked Hunter between the eyes where her eyebrows had stayed in her frown and snickered lightly, it was deep and sorrowful. “I've been thinking, _Aurora:_ ” his tone however, did not match his eyes. “You need to take a break and relax more.”  
  
     Her features calmed and she was looking away from his eyes. “It's Hunter, and no, I don't.” She was suddenly pulled away by Sara and Cody. Deception grinned and looked down, but followed as the group left the large room for another.  
   
                                                                    ................................  
  
     Morning had finally arrived and Hunter's computer chimed with an incoming call. She lifted her face off her oak desk and drowsily looked at the monitor, not really seeing anything.  
  
     The night had been long, she remembered the loud music that had been playing on a stereo somewhere, and her companions happily speaking to one another. She also remembered how Amelia had not allowed her to leave and pushed her onto the soft red sofa beside Deception. A cold draft blew in from the door when it was opened to reveal the street beyond, but whenever Hunter had turned to look at it longingly, Zachery gently turned her chin away. It was hours of loud noise, bright laser lights in the dark, and tightly packed people in an increasingly warm room. The heat however, was the only thing that Hunter didn't mind, since she was able to manipulate the temperature around her.  
  
     The shrill chime came again. Hunter's eyes finally focused and she quickly sprang upwards to answer the call when she noticed who was on the other end. She flicked on the little camera sitting on the monitor and answered.  
  
     “Hello Hunter.” A man's voice sounded over the small speakers that sat on the relatively bare desk.  
  
     “Hello Sir.” Hunter replied, trying to sound as awake as she could for the moment.  
  
     “I'm sending you the details of the job your going to do. I trust the rest of the team has met you there.” The deep voice sounded again.  
  
     “Yes sir, they have.” Hunter said, nodding once quickly.  
  
     “Do you have the information up yet?”  
  
     “Yes, I do Sir.” Hunter was scrolling through an attached file that had come with the call and was quickly scanning through the small text file. It contained some pictures of the subjects but contained very little information on the subjects themselves, instead it described the location of the job in detail.  
  
     “Good, any questions?”  
  
     “No, everything looks straight forward Sir.” Hunter looked back up to the camera after she had read through the file.  
  
     “Good luck. And remember Hunter:” The voice spoke more deeply “No loose ends.”  
  
     “I understand Sir.” The line went dead. Hunter leaned back in her soft desk chair and sat for a moment to rub her tired eyes. With a sigh and some difficulty she lifted herself from the chair and closing the glass door behind her, left her office.  
  
     The wandering halls of the HAF base were long and always brightly lit. The walls were white and bare, but for some reason always gave Hunter a calm feeling in her chest, it was, after all, home to the group. They had all grown up here for the most part, and they were all raised like children to Director Victor Steel. He was always truthful, which also meant he was straight forward and to the point. Hunter liked this, she rarely held tolerance to those who spoke for too long, or didn't understand what they themselves were speaking of.  
  
     For 18 years the group at HAF had lived here. Some other military officers were occasionally posted at the base, but they never stayed for more than a month. Hunter and her companions had all seen the world beyond the base of course. Missions took them to different and diverse countries, and they were all to study the languages and culture of these regions, to better hide and blend in. They were all well taught in fighting and they were all deeply immersed in individual educational studies, that allowed them to fully understand and use their separate genetic abilities. Although being separated and individually schooled did not stop them all from teaching each other about what they learned separately.  
  
     Hunter soon found herself in a small room, empty, save for some cupboards, chairs and a metal table. “Okay, listen up.” She said as she sat down at the table with her five companions for breakfast. “I have two things to tell you. One: I did not find a certain report on my desk this morning.” She looked over at Amelia and Flight. Amelia glared at her and said nothing as she threw a small folder over towards Hunter, it skidded to a stop on the table in front of her. Lucas watched the silent confrontation wide eyed for a moment before he returned to shoveling food into his mouth. Hunter flashed a snide smile towards Shifter and looked back to the rest of the group. “Also, Victor called, I have the details for another job.” She placed another printed folder on the cold table and let the team read through it. “We leave on the jet in an hour.” Hunter informed them.


	3. The Loose End

   The mission was simple, a small gang in central Hong Kong had to be eliminated. The location of their base of operations was included in the file that Victor had sent, but the team still had to blend with the crowd and gain information about their security. The gang was a den that mainly dealt in the transportation of illegal goods and dappled in illegal papers for migrants fleeing the neighbouring countries.  
   There was a total of twenty members, they had so far evaded the Chinese police and hid amongst the local stores well. Tech had used one of her small mechanisms to unlock the doors after Amelia had crept into the back room as a mouse to search for any traps. Only video cameras were at the door to the den, Hunter quickly wiped the tapes and destroyed the equipment with an electromagnetic pulse.  
   Once the group had silently entered the den they proceeded to dispose of the intended targets as quickly and quietly as they could. All the targets were dead within minutes. Hunter and her team had worked well, making sure there wasn't anything more than one scream, and it was instantly silenced. Deception looked at the mass of bodies that surrounded him, and to the last survivor, he looked into his terrified dark brown eyes and gently shushed the man with a small telepathic pulse. The middle-aged man calmed down.  
   “Are you the only den?” Deception whispered soothingly in Mandarin. The man nodded gently and didn't so much as twitch when his spinal cord was severed from behind.  
   They decided they were finished here and could return home and report back to Victor. “Let's get back and get cleaned up,” Hunter said quietly, looking at her slightly bloodstained team. “We head out immediately.” They knew it was best not to speak more to one another until they had left the area and were back aboard the small jet that awaited them at the airport. Yet they knew they all thought it would be nice to get back home after two weeks of travelling and work. Hunter and her companions left the building dark, cold and unknowingly still inhabited. A little pair of brown eyes watched them as the group made their exit. A loose end.  
  
                    …................................  
  
   The jet arrived back at the HAF base two days later. “Victor, Sir,” Hunter knocked on the door to Victor Steel's large laboratory. She heard a hushed response and she entered. “I have the reports from the Hong Kong assignment.” Hunter walked into the lab, her feet not making any noise on the hard white floor. Small splashes of brown substance had found their way to the tiles but Victor had not so much as cared to look at it. Hunter observed the spots before she looked up to see Victor had turned from his work at the lab bench and was watching her. His hair was turning peppery and his green-black eyes peeked from over the top of his silver wire-framed glasses. He placed something metal down on the hard bench and wiped his gloved hand on his lab coat.  
   “Very good Hunter.” He said in his rough voice when she had returned his gaze. “Anything of importance I should know about?”  
   “No, Sir. Everything went as planned.” Hunter smiled quickly, inside she was still distracted by the brown splotch that decorated the floor.  
   “And how is everyone? No dizzy spells or visions?” Victor's brow furrowed as he shifted on his little stool.  
   “No, Sir.” Confusion crossed Hunter's face. “Can I ask you a question, Sir?”  
   “Of course Hunter.” Victor removed his coat and gloves, then placed his hands in his lap.  
   Hunter watched him, pondering her question before she asked it. “Why was it only me that had those problems with my powers? I understand that we all have different abilities, and they require different control techniques, but why are mine so much different? Event the schooling you provide doesn't help me understand it.” She glanced around somewhat lost and helpless as she spoke. She didn't understand why she was like this, or why she was more so different than the others.  
   “Because Hunter,” Victor rose and smoothly walked over to her, he took the reports from her hands. He was about a head taller than Hunter, yet for some reason, she remembered him taller. “You are special, and one day I will tell you why.” He put his large hand on her shoulder and walked her out of the room. She sighed but walked down the hallway with only that as her answer.  
   Victor closed the door with a muffled click and turned to face the almost empty room. “What is it, Greg?” The Director asked into the room.  
   “Victor, you're not ever going to tell her, are you?” A military man stepped forward from the distant corner. He had been there the whole duration of the conversation. His olive uniform made his figure a lot heavier, but he was still a rather slender man. He was nearly middle-aged and his face was clean-shaven, his dark eyes watched as Victor walked back over to his stool and sat down.  
   “No, I'm not, she might want to look for a family if she knew she had one.” Victor looked at the brown splotch on the floor that Hunter had been so interested in. “It's better if she thinks she came from a test tube like the others.”  
   “If you say so.” Greg moved closer to Victor. “I have also retrieved information from a police station in central Hong Kong, close to where they disposed of the gang that plagued the area.”  
   “What information?” Victor turned to face Greg, his face was grim.  
   “They were seen. A young boy who had been in the den, he was only seven years old, but the boy went to the police, he knew of the trouble he was in. Yet he reported the deaths of the criminals, the police were more happy to hear of their disposal then they should have been, however. Luckily, the boy was not believed, but if he ever was....” Greg was leaning in towards Victor now, his voice nearly a whisper.  
   Victor's eyes widened in a sudden pulse of fear. “This experiment has to come to an end. We must destroy everything that is connected to the team.” He realized quietly. A quivering sigh escaped his lips.  
   “What about the team? They haven't even reached their full potentials yet.” Greg seemed somewhat surprised at the scientist's sudden words.  
   “It doesn't matter. Those kids are now connected to the murder, and that will come back to us.” Victor removed his glasses and rubbed his strained eyes. He didn't know how to solve this problem. He was a scientist, and the teacher of Hunter and her companions, and yet he thought of the only thing he could do. “I'll give them each a shot that will neutralize their powers.” He glanced around the room for emotional and psychological help. There was none in the cold laboratory. “Then we'll take them to the vault room on the mid-floor. We say it's only another test. Hunter will be suspicious, I raised her well after all. Then we dispose of them. It's really our only option.” Victor closed his eyes.  
   Greg looked away. “If that is what you think is best.” He said before he turned and left the Director alone in the lab with his thoughts.


	4. The Room

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **WARNING: Blood and gore ******

   “Sir, I thought they we had finished with the shots and procedures.” Hunter inquired as she got her needle. It penetrated the soft skin of her elbow with a small prick. She had gotten so used to them that she didn't even flinch at the pinch.  
   “This is the last one. I promise.” Victor flashed her a smile. “Now, come all of you, we have a test to run downstairs.” Victor told them walking out of the room. He cast a last glance at Greg as he ushered the group of six out of the laboratory.  
   “But Sir, all of your equipment is upstairs.” Hunter followed Victor's lead but was confused, Victor had never lied to them. Victor stopped suddenly and turned on her. His hand solidly met her face and it stung her skin, but it wasn't the tingling in her face that hurt her the most. She stumbled back against her equally stunned teammates. Sara caught Hunter's arm and steadied her.  
   “How dare you question me!” Victor snarled at her, stepping forward intimidatingly. “I gave you life! You will not dare question my actions or words, do you understand?” His eyes were wild as they crossed over the group.  
   “Yes Sir, sorry Sir.” Hunter lowered her eyes to the ground. Yet she wasn't convinced of his words, and she tensed and raised her guard against the man. The others in the small group did so as well, they had never seen him so angry and wild-eyed, Amelia sensed something strange in him, she narrowed her green eyes and saw it as his animal instincts. Zachary's gaze moved from the injured and tense Hunter to Victor and he hardened his posture. Cody and Lucas did the same.  
   “Good.” Victor turned and continued to march down the hallway. The group followed cautiously behind him when Greg had calmly motioned for them to continue.  
   They soon came to a sealed room just off of the main hallway below the main floor. It had a heavy steel door and was dimly lit, which was unusual for the base. Cody glanced over Sara's shoulder and looked into the strange and empty room. The walls were white, like all others in the building, same with the floor; clean white tile. Nothing stood in the room, only the far wall opposite from the door was adorned with iron shackles. They waited for Victor and Greg to first enter the room, something they were taught to do very early in their training.  
   Victor noticed this and once he was in the room he turned to them and showed them a trusting smile. They didn't relax much. “Okay, I'll let Greg explain your new training exercise.”  
   The military man stepped forward from Victor's side, his hands behind his back, Hunter watched for any sudden movement of his hands. “You will be chained to the walls of this room. You will then have ten minutes to escape. Otherwise, you will die.”  
   Greg had always made the training sessions focused on the team's survival, or else they would not take heed to his lessons. The group nodded stiffly and wandered into place, some helped chain each other to the walls. Hunter was the last to position herself against the cold bare cement wall. Greg placed the chains around her wrist and ankles, they jingled and clicked as they were secured shut. The bonds were very tight and firmly pressed them flat against the wall. “You have ten minutes.” He reminded her and closed the heavy door behind himself and Victor, who had wandered away into the hallway, distracted by something.  
   The team struggled with their chains. The cold iron twisted their skin, making it red and sore. Lucas pulled violently at the chains in an attempt to break them or pull them from the walls, as he had done many times before in training. He stopped trying after many failed attempts. He was breathing hard when he looked over at Cody, who was trying to pull one of his hands free of the thick cuffs, which he had no success in doing. Amelia seemed very distressed, as for usual she had planned to change shape to escape, but her form remained human, her gaze moved over to an irritated Hunter, and Tech, they too remained in their bonds.  
    “Can anyone use their abilities?” Hunter asked after several useless attempts at both changing the state of the iron and tunnelling through the cuffs. She was met with a resounding “No.” from her small group.  
    “Does anyone have anything that can pick a lock?” Cody asked, twisting his body in his bonds against the wall to look on either side of him, his chains clinked together as he moved.  
    “I do, but I don't think any of us are capable of retrieving it from my back pocket. Hunter, what are we going to do?” Sara asked, she tried to move her pants pocket towards Cody anyway, he sighed in his tight chains and shook his head when he couldn't reach.  
    Hunter looked down after a moment of thought. She slowly moved her head from side to side. It seemed to cause her a lot of pain to do so, her muscles were stressed and her back sore. “Get a lecture from Greg, a few bruises and maybe some cuts,” Hunter looked over at Deception. “The worst a broken bone for failing.” She knew it was her fault that they could not escape. She also knew she would have to watch them be hurt, again. The thought always stung her more than the pain she had inflicted on herself when she failed them.  
    The door eased back open slowly with a loud shuddering screech. The warm air inside levelled off with the cooler outside air, Hunter figured that the room was perfectly sealed on the inside, a type of fire vault.  
    “Well, I see you're all still here.” Greg stated flatly as he re-entered the little room. He was followed closely by Victor. He looked paler than normal.  
    “Yes. I'm sorry Sirs, I did not realize the full disabilities of this exercise.” Hunter hung her head. Her companions did the same, but Amelia did so only with a sneer on her tired face and letting her red hair cover it up.  
    “Well, you see Hunter,” Victor said, finally coming forward. “You weren't supposed to escape. Understand that on the last mission you were sent on, the one in Hong Kong,” He continued, he now stood squarely in front of her, he lifted her chin with a slender and cold finger. “You let a witness go. A little boy, but a witness none the less.” Hunter's eyes widened in astonishment. Lucas flinched, his chains sounded, a heavy earsplitting noise in the hollow room. “And now you're connected to the murder, we can't have you leading anyone back to me.” She searched his face for the lie. She found none.  
    “Sir, it's my fault. I'll go and I'll fix it.” Hunter hurried to say, hoping she could get through to him.  
    “Yes, it is your fault, but if the only witness suddenly disappeared, what would that say? Greg, you can begin.” Victor turned to let Hunter watch as Greg thrust a knife into Cody's soft stomach. Crimson blood gushed from his middle and he screamed out, unable to defend himself against his attacker. The rest of the defenseless group screamed and cried as they tugged at their own bonds, hoping to be able to rush to Cody's aid. None could. Greg's hunting knife buried itself deep in Cody's gut, Hunter could hear it scrape the bone of his spine as it moved, it made her sick and cringe when all she could do was stare. His scream became a gurgle as he started coughing blood, but it quickly stopped when Greg ruthlessly tore organs from his twitching body, throwing them carelessly across the room. They collided with the walls with sickening slaps and slid to the floor, where they joined in a pool of his blood. Sara vomited at the sight before her and the others screamed and sobbed with Cody's death, sprayed blood had reached their faces. Greg finally lets the limp and empty body fall to the floor as he released it from its bloody chains.  
    “Stop, please stop.” Hunter's voice was thick and hollow as Greg took the bloody knife and cleaned it on her skin and clothes, it left gashes where it connected with her skin. The knife was still warm from Cody's blood and it stung in her new cuts, her own blood dripped lazily from her body.  
    “Greg, I think Sara would like to go next.” Victor managed to say, his voice was distant. Sara's face was streaked with tears, they made trails in the blood splatter, she was intensely pale as Greg stepped over the mangled corpse of Cody towards her.  
    Hunter only wished to turn away as Sara's legs were easily cut from her body, yet she did not. Sara's blood poured from her severed limbs as she shrieked, and she was quickly drained of her blood. Greg continued to slash the body even after she had died and finally, he let her torso fall to the ground when he had hacked her arms from her body, like a butchered animal. But still, he lifted her head and torso by her hair, dripping with blood and with a quick clean slice, severed her head from her body. An expression of terror and pain was frozen on Sara's blue and lifeless face. Greg held it up for the others to see before he dropped it with a sickening and heavy wet thud. The deep pool of blood that gathered on the floor like a broken dam flooded to the corners of the vault-like room, but it did not reach the door. Victor backed away from it as it crept closer to his feet.  
    Hunter badly wanted to throw up, the thick and warm smell of blood rose to her nostrils. She had watched people be murdered and she herself had killed, but the victims had never suffered so much. They had always made it a quick and merciful death, one without pain or suffering. Hunter's eyes stung, tears had escaped them, but they felt dry, she tried to swallow but nearly vomited at the smell and sight around her. She could not move.  
    Amelia was the next to die. She screamed and cursed at the men as Greg motioned for Victor to join him. Victor looked at the military man and tiptoed through the lake of blood. It seeped in through his shoes as he approached, he fumbled through his pocket and produced a lighter, flicking it open, he lit the edge of Amelia's thin gray tank top. She glared heavily at the thin scientist, and he nearly shrunk back from the strength in her gaze. She screamed as her flesh began to bubble and sizzle under the increasing heat of the spreading flame. The strong smell of burning flesh was unbearable for Hunter, and the smoke it created made her eyes pour foul tasting tears. The screaming didn't cease for minutes, but when it did, Greg unlatched the chains as her body continued to burn. Black and charred, where the fire had been most intense and red and heavily blistered where it had not, ashes blew from Amelia's body when Greg sadistically blew on it. He let what was left of Amelia fall into the drying blood that coated the floor.  
    Hunter felt her body go limp as she watched, she no longer had any strength left in her muscles, and she felt her mind become sheltered from the darkness that was unfolding before her. Lucas was brutally beaten by Greg until with every kick, there was a sickening crack of bones and the mash of bloody and loose flesh. His limbs were bent at grotesque angles and his face was crushed before his throat was finally cut and he was left to bleed out in a mass on the floor.  
    Hunter was apologizing repeatedly to Zachery as Greg turned to him, she wasn't sure if he had heard her voice or not, for he only stared darkly at the man in front of him, he boldly looked down at the shorter man whose arms and uniform were covered in dried blood. Hunter coughed on the thick smoke that lingered in the room. It was sad that she was relieved to see that they shot him several times to end his life. Twice in the chest and once more in the head. Greg also dropped his corpse to the floor to let it become one with the other beaten and burned masses on the tile.  
    She was forced to watch through all of their deaths, she knew she could have turned away but she chose not to. She knew that if she was to hear it, it could still be seen, and she forced herself to go through it. But when it was all over for them, she was almost relieved when Greg finally turned to her.  
   “Well Hunter, not that it matters, but I hope you learned something.” With blood encrusted fingers he undid the chains that held her to the wall. She fell limply to her hands and knees in front of the two men, as if she too were a corpse, beaten, torn open, strewn about and burned. “Unfortunately for you, however, we're not going to kill you. The shot your beloved father gave you should last for a couple weeks.” Greg waved a hand dismissively and bent down in front of her. “But you'll starve to death long before that.” He smiled cruelly as he stood and gave her a couple strong kicks before walking out the door.  
    “Hunter,” Victor stood above her, sorrow seemed to fill his eyes, Hunter despised it. “I'm sorry about this, but you have to understand, it had to be done.” He exhaled sadly, turned and walked out. The door shut and if Hunter's ears could hear, she would have noticed the door being welded shut. But she didn't, she only collapsed into a pile amongst the blood and bodies of her friends, the thickening blood had soaked deep into her jeans and was coldly creeping it's way up through her clothes and onto her leather shirt, it gave her little protection, for it soon began to seep into her skin, staining it.  
    She cried. In one day she had lost everything she had ever loved. Her friends, she had always considered them her family, even if she had never spoken like it was so, she felt that it was better if her life had stayed strict, but the pain of losing them tore through her, taunting her. Victor and Greg, she had looked up to them as father type figures, she both loved and feared them. Now, as she thought about it, she had looked to Victor as if he were a god. He had created them and now he had destroyed them. Greg had always been necessarily strict. He held a strong air around himself and taught them as much as Victor had, how to fight, how to survive. It all seemed so pointless, now that he and Victor had done this to them, she hated them for it, treating them like useless experiments that had no more purpose. All she could do now was lay in the congealing blood and rotting remains of her friends. Her family.


	5. The Chase

Present Day

 

      “Have you finished running the tests on the old building we found the girl in yet?” Tony asked, walking through the sliding glass door into the lab on the helicarrier. He had called Pepper to tell her that he wasn't expecting to be back at Stark Tower anytime soon, due to “Shitty dealings” as he had put it. Pepper didn't sound too pleased with the information, but let him go on the promise that he be careful.

      Bruce looked up at the sudden intrusion of the silence and spoke. “They just finished.” He tapped at the computer monitor. “How is she?” He inquired, looking over.

      “She said to come back to the Tower more often, she hates me being away.” Tony smiled mischievously at Bruce as he wandered over to his side by the computer.

      “I meant the girl we found in the room,” Bruce said, looking away from Tony's face.

      “Oh, well, she's still unconscious, but they say she's stable,” Tony said in a mock hurt tone from Bruce's side.

      Bruce only sighed and took a moment of pause before resuming his conversation with the irritating man. “Well, the tests on the building itself show that it's been abandoned for at least a year. The one regarding the room, well, same, it was sealed for a year, but from the looks of it and the test I ran on the inside of the room, it seems like she was only in the room for a couple weeks, maximum. How is that possible?” Bruce looked from the computer screen to Tony's face as he went over the results of the tests. He glanced back to rerun the tests a second time.

      Tony frowned and remembered the readings that Jarvis had taken when the room had been opened. He decided to mention these to Bruce. “The energy readings that Jarvis took from the room show some weird things that were happening in there. The readings were really messed up,” Tony continued, his brow knitting in thought as he paced the room. “It could be possible, maybe, depending on how it worked, that whatever energy that was in that room was keeping time itself frozen, in some way. But that's crazy, so never mind.”

      Bruce was watching Tony stride repeatedly across the laboratory in thought. “Sure.” He looked back at the computer when a small beep rang from it. Tony stopped pacing when he heard the sound. Bruce raised his eyebrows at one of the monitors near him. “Her DNA shows interesting changes.”

      “Oh, what?” Tony asked.

      “Tony, maybe you should look at this.” Bruce quickly looked up at him.

      “What? See something you don't understand?” Tony joked. He placed a hand on the back of Bruce's chair and leaned in towards the computer. “Holy shit. Are you sure?” Tony almost shouted in disbelief.

      “Yes, I ran it twice, I thought it was a mistake the first time.” Bruce turned to look at Tony gravely. Tony only stared at the computer screen and swallowed the hard lump forming in his throat.

 

…................................

      Hunter woke in a clean white room on a hard bed with a thin sheet covering her. There were IV units and various other instruments attached to her arms, and her eyes stung at the bright lights above her head. The smell of bleach and other cleaning products bombarded her nose, making it burn. Her mind flashed to her friends. She knew she had to leave where ever she was, she had to go, she had to find Victor and Greg. She yanked the multiple needles from her arms and tore the sheet that covered her away, it fell to the strangely warm floor. Her body was clean and her clothes had been changed, she was now wearing a long white button up shirt and gray sweat pants instead of what she last remembered herself wearing. She ignored these details and quickly and silently moved to the door, aware that she was alone in the small room. She was still weak and felt dizzy from the movement, but she crept through the door and stumbled down the halls, leaning on the wall for support.

      Lights flickered as she passed under them, and she very slowly began to feel stronger. Hunter rounded a corner only to come face to face with two men. They wore heavy army uniform and bared guns in their hands, she quickly spun back around the corner, making her head feel light, and hesitated for a moment before dashing back down the hall the way she had come. But she did so with the two soldiers on her trail. An alarm sounded shrilly down the corridor and red lights flashed at every doorway.

 

…................................

 

      “What's going on?” Tony and Bruce had run into the hall as the alarm sounded. They covered their ears at the loud and repetitive noise.

      Steve and Clint came running down the corridor to greet them. They also had their hands raised to the sides of their heads. “The girl we found is awake and running around.” Steve shouted over the alarm. “We have to find her.”

      “She was reported by the two guards that pursued her, she's nearing the weaponry room,” Clint said. Tony and Bruce both nodded, and suddenly the alarm was cut off with a last half-hearted shriek. The lights flared bright and then faded, many of the bulbs burst. The small group of men flinched at the occurrence and looked at one another before running in the direction of the weapon storage.

      They found her a moment later crouching high up on one of the shelving units in the weapon's room, much the same as Clint did. If not for the bright clothing she was wearing, she would have been very difficult to locate in the large and crowded area. She was confidently holding Clint's bow and arrows as she silently crossed a metal beam to another tall shelving unit. She had placed herself well, Clint thought, for she could see both entrances to the room and she had a clear shot at the floor beneath her. She was smart, and she was watching them closely.

      “Hey, that's mine.” Clint said when he was done observing her and took full notice of his bow, his voice was a little louder than necessary. She raised her body up, balancing perfectly on the thin beam above them and with a trained eye, pointed the drawn bow at Clint's head. He could already feel the sting of the arrow at the center of his forehead. He looked at her, she seemed scared and unsure of herself despite her strong posture.

      “Whoa there, no one wants to hurt you.” Steve said quickly realizing the situation. He began approaching the closest shelf slowly with his hands raised. She re-aimed the bow towards Steve, he froze as she let the arrow go.

      Clint noticed the tiny movement she made before she released the arrow, it had kept Steve alive. So she didn't want them dead, Clint thought, but it was still too early to tell for sure. The arrow whipped close by Steve's ear, barely missing, and hit the shelf behind him with a solid and resounding thwack of piercing metal.

      Thor and Natasha had joined the four men in the warehouse-like room just after Hunter had let fly to the black arrow. Steve shuddered at his encounter.

      “Maiden, we wish you no ill wind, please come down.” Thor tried. His only response was another well-trained arrow nearly missing his head. It slipped through the air and Thor flinched. Tony and Bruce stood silently and wide-eyed, but closer to the door of the room. They watched the girl as she took two light steps back on the beam.

      “Please relax and stop shooting arrows,” Natasha said harshly, she only received an arrow as well, this was fired closer and brushed quickly through her hair. Natasha's heart skipped a beat, but she managed to speak again. “Okay then.” She growled.

      “That was the last arrow she had,” Clint informed them, never taking his eyes off the girl. She had rested the bow on the beam and was tensely looking around the room. “I only carry three arrows in a case with a bow.” Clint began to look for the best way to climb up the shelf and to the beam on which Hunter sat. She watched him approach one of the shelving units and began to back away from him looking cornered. She never looked behind herself and with one one misplaced footfall, she tumbled from the shelf to the hard floor. The Avengers rushed towards her.

      “Chi.” She growled as the group rounded the corner. She sprung back onto her bare feet and began to step backwards toward a small gap between shelves.

      Tony took a step toward the frightened girl. He took notice of a newly opened cut on her muscular upper arm, it was bleeding quite freely. “We don't want you hurt anymore.” Tony tried, taking another step forward. A small and center-less explosion in the air knocked back the shelf that stood near Tony forcing him off his feet and meters away to the side. The girl looked as surprised as the rest of the group, but instead of rushing to Tony's aid she used the moment of confusion to disappear between the shelves.

      No one on the helicarrier saw her again that day. Tony and Bruce were both worried, she scared and alone, and that made her dangerous. At least that is what Nick Fury had told them when he gathered them together once again in one of the briefing rooms. Her recapture was top priority for the safety and well-being of everyone on the carrier.

 

…................................

 

      It was two more days of stress before one of the military officers had spotted her again. She was hiding in a storage room in the eastern wing of the helicarrier, they could assume she had not eaten and was weak from lack of sleep, fear, and tension. But they could not find the path she had used to get up onto one of the large metal fans hanging from the ceiling. The sharp blades had been jammed with a metal rod and she was sitting inside the large cage with her arms crossed over her chest, she may have been resting, or she was confident that she was safe for the moment. But when a loud machine was brought in to reach her, several more small explosions were triggered and she would disappear into a small hole that had been cut above the fan with what seemed to be one of Tony's lasers. It fell from her shirt pocket as she slunk through the hole, and tumbled down to the floor far below, shattering on impact with the hard steel floor.

      Steve retrieved the broken pieces of the laser and returned to the group that had assembled itself at the base of the machine. They were all staring at the hole that had been cut through the ceiling. “Tony, you may have better luck tracking her in your suit.” Steve suggested, handing him the remains of the instrument.

      “Yeah, that may be a good idea.” Tony left. He walked briskly down the brightly lit corridors and to the room where his suit was stored. He looked at camera screens that were being displayed on the monitor as he was dressed in the metal suit. The split screens only showed static so Tony shut them off and turned from the room.

      He passed the medical bay on his way back to the group and found it empty, save for the girl. She was frantically rummaging through the multiple shelves and storage units. She hadn't noticed Tony behind her as she quickly pulled her well-cleaned leather shirt from one of the drawers. They had made sure that it was cleaned off the old blood and grime from the room, not knowing if it held anything harmful to the people on the helicarrier. Tony disallowed anyone from discarding it and had placed it back in the medical bay, in case she returned to it, the jeans, however, could not be spared and were thrown away.

      Tony finally spoke from behind her. “Wait, just let me talk, please.” He begged, the girl spun quickly and the next thing Tony knew, his suit was fully powered down and he was trapped inside. The girl narrowed her tired gray-blue eyes as she passed closely by him, he watched her go, leather shirt in hand, and unable to move in his suit. He was too focused on her face to speak.


	6. The Only Name Left

        The days went on and Hunter managed to evade every attempt set in motion to capture her. She had located the food storage room and never set foot on the ground of the helicarrier, Clint was charged with tracking her when Jarvis found where she might be hiding. But after nearly another week of hunting, the Avengers had finally managed to more or less corner her in a dead end hallway, more than half of the ship had been put into lock-down and the doors were sealed shut.

        Yet within this long week, Hunter had managed to acquire and learn how the use Steve's shield and move Thor's hammer without touching it, pushing it off a table to leave a large dent in the wall of the helicarrier. She had also returned to the weapons room to find Clint's bow and arrows in the secured storage vault. But whenever Clint returned for them he always found them a different colour. Nobody in the lab could explain why, since they had no trace of paint or other material on them to make the changes.

        Nick Fury watched her from the end of the hallway as the group of Avengers stood in her way of freedom. Hunter could tell they didn't like being there any more than she did. She had said nothing for three hours after being cornered, but finally, to the group's relief, she spoke. She agreed to return to the medical room on the condition that they always stay a fair distance from her. They did.

        She was cautiously watching the members of the group as she was marched down the hallway. Fury had joined them when she had been safely escorted to the room.

        Fury stood by the far wall. “Let's start with something easy, what is your name?” He asked.

        “You never told me yours, why should tell you mine?” She stood by the hard bed she had woken up in over a week ago and stared evenly across the room at the eye-patched man.

        “Fine,” His tone lowered impatiently. “I'm Director Fury and-” He moved to gesture to the others in the room when Hunter cut him off.

        “That's not a name. That's a title.” She raised her chin defiantly. Fury glared at her and shifted to move towards her.

        Tony briskly stepped in, putting an arm out to block Fury, he was also treated with a heavy glare. “His name is Nick Fury, this is Bruce, he's going to be your doctor, this is Clint, Natasha, Thor, Steve, and I'm Tony.” Bruce could tell he was still on edge from the information that he had given him when they first ran her tests. “So, could you now, please tell us your name?” Tony's eyes seemed to beg her, she saw no hostility in them, only tension.

        “I don't have one.” She said bitterly after a long pause.

        “Everyone has a name. Tell me.” Nick Fury marched forward and stood towering over her. A snarl crossed her face and she backed away as an invisible force suddenly shoved Fury back across the room into the wall.

        “Damn it.” Tony muttered to himself.

        “What the hell was that?” Nick snarled as he rose from the floor. Hunter slowly lowered herself into a crouch, ready to fight if need be, the air seemed to become warmer and denser.

        Bruce quickly stepped in. “She obviously has power, and we don't need to be interrogating her like this.” He turned his back on Hunter, hoping the girl understood this as trust, and swallowed, he then ushered everyone except Tony out of the room. He shooed them down the hall and told them to go back to the briefing room to wait.

        Tony nervously sat on the bed. Hunter relaxed and did not move from her position, even as Tony came within arm's reach of her. “Could you tell me about a Tiffany Wells?” he asked.

        “Never heard of her.” She replied quickly. Her gaze snapped to Bruce when he closed the door. She narrowed her eyes at him, immediately making him nervous, but did nothing more.

        “But she's your mother.” Tony pressed, pulling her attention back to him.

        “I don't have a mother. I was a lab experiment, a test tube baby.” She stared into Tony's eyes and inspected him, he felt very uncomfortable under her scrutiny.

        “No, we did a DNA test. We know who your parents are.” He looked away towards Bruce, unable to return her strong gaze.

        “I don't have parents.” She scoffed. “Especially not two.”

        “Yes, your father is,” Tony paused, he wasn't sure how to continue. “Well, I knew Tiffany but she never told me. I'm your father.” Tony finally said looking into her face trying to gauge her reaction to his words.

        She only stared expressionlessly. “No, you're not.”

        “Yes, I am.”

        “No, you're not.”

        “Yes. I am.”

        “No. You're not.”

        “Okay guys, we’re not getting anywhere, who told you that you had no parents?” Bruce stepped in, looking at Hunter.

        “Someone I trus-” She stopped. No, she didn't trust Victor. She tugged at the sleeve of her leather shirt, leaving nail prints on its surface. “No. I don't trust him.” She muttered quietly, looking down at the floor, it was white tile. She hated it.

        “Then it is possible?” Bruce asked softly.

        “I guess so.” She closed her eyes for a moment not liking that she had lost. She didn't like how her guard had lowered, but she didn't have the mental strength to raise it again, she had grown tired.

        “Do you want to tell us how you got in that room and how long you were in there?” Tony continued, not really noticing the sorrow that filled her eyes. He really wanted to know about this daughter that he had discovered.

        “It doesn't matter.” She said quietly.

        “Yes, it does.”

        Bruce sighed and gently hit Tony on the shoulder, he had noticed her pain. “Why don't we with something easier, how old are you?” He asked, deflecting Tony's irritated glare.

        “I don't know, what's the date?” Her voice was little over a whisper now. She was still studying the floor.

        “June 1, 2012.” Came the response.

        Hunter paused a moment to calculate. “I'm 21.”

        “How about a name? We need to call you something. Anything?” Tony asked searching her downcast face.

        Another pause, this one was longer. “Aurora.” She didn't talk much after that. Her mind seemed to be lost in thought and so Bruce pushed Tony to leave the room and returned with him to speak with the rest of the group.

 

…................................

 

        Aurora. That was what Deception had named her. She couldn't believe it had been an entire year since they had been killed. A lump caught in her throat when she remembered them, her eyes began to sting as she lay on the bed in the medical bay. She shook her head to clear her mind of the memories that plagued her thoughts. Could she trust these people? She stared at the light above her head until her eyes adjusted to the light, and watched as the waves crossed through the tubes. She blinked and her eyes watered from the relief. She kept them closed, listening to the hum of the craft she was aboard, it was deep and soothing in her ears.

        “Father.” She muttered into the room. Her eyes snapped open, and she frowned. “I'm a biological existence in which I was improbably bred as a human.” She frowned again, turning her experiences into scientific words to analyze them had always made them more endurable for her. She quickly sat up and stared at the sheets that lay at the bottom of the bed. “Improbable biological existence,” Hunter muttered again, it was louder this time. “I'm nothing more. Aren't I?”

        “You are Aurora.” A voice in the back of her head replied.

        Hunter cocked her head. “Biological existence.” She countered.

        She didn't feel the voice again. She smiled. It was a strange feeling, the muscles in her face felt sore and they twitched with the effort. She thought a moment before she looked to the door.

        “I am Aurora, I'm an improbable biological existence who has a father, a mother, and I feel I can trust the people on this craft. I won't ever forget my family, they made me who I am. Them, and me.” Aurora nodded to herself and exited the room through the door, closing it behind her.

        She walked down the halls to where she had learned the command deck of the ship was. But it still took her a moment to find it again. She turned a corner into the room.

        The Avengers were watching the video of the teens again, trying to find clues that would lead them to their whereabouts. They were staring intently at the multiple large screens. Aurora came into the room as the video flashed to a shot of the group. Her group. She froze, she couldn't breathe as the tears slowly formed in her eyes. She couldn't look at their faces without feeling the shame it dragged with it.

        Clint and Thor had heard Aurora enter the room behind them. They turned and both took a step back to distance themselves from her, but her attention was only on the screens. Victor's deep voice could be heard over the speakers that filled the room.

        Bruce felt it grow very cold in the wide room, making him shiver and able to see his breath.

        Tony turned around. “Aurora?” The rest of the assembled group looked over at her as well, she didn't like them all looking at her, but she could only stand there, stunned. “What's wrong?” Tony shot up and rushed over to the spot where Aurora was standing. A lone tear fell from her eye. “Aurora!”

        She fled from the room as quickly as her legs could carry her. She didn't know where they were taking her, but she had no choice to obey them. The faces of her friends infested her mind.


	7. The Realization

        Tony had chased Aurora as soon as she had turned and fled the room. He followed her through the maze of halls and just when he was almost out of breath, she came to a dead end, where they had locked down the ship. He could only assume that she wasn't sure where she was running to. Aurora slammed her body into the door that barred her way and beat it repeatedly with her hands before she slid to the floor in front of it. She sat on the floor looking down at where it and the heavy door met, a small light shone through the crack.

        “Aurora?” Tony carefully walked over to her and knelt behind her, after a moment of hesitation he placed a hand on her shoulder. She didn't shake it off, but she looked at it from the corner of her misty eyes.

        “It's all my fault.” She muttered almost inaudibly. She shook her head and hung it lower towards her chest.

        “What's your fault?” Tony looked at the girl, confused.

        “Them.” She managed to croak through the tears that began to stream more heavily down her face.

        “Those kids on the tape? No, they're assassins. We're tracking them.” Tony assured her, he thought he was being helpful, reassuring her that she had nothing to do with the group they had been inspecting.

        She wiped some of the tears from her face and slowly looked up at him. “You don't know?”

        “Know what?” Tony was truly baffled by her statement.

        “Them, in that room, we were, we all were...” She choked on her words and turned back to the door to bury her face in her hands. They were quivering violently, so she dropped them to her stomach and doubled over on them to stop the shaking.

        “What do you...” Realization dawned on Tony as he trailed off, his gaze fell to the floor and he could feel the colour drain from his face slightly. She was one of those teens. The unexplained energy forces and in the room, the five other bodies. She was Hunter.

        Tony was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't hear Steve come up behind him. “Tony, is everything alright?” He asked, trying to peer over Tony's shoulder at Aurora.

        Tony paused a moment. “Not now Steve.” He said quietly as he gently scooped up his daughter, her body felt cold to the touch, she didn't fight him, and Steve looked at them for an instant, mystified by the sight. He eventually nodded once and left Tony alone to carry Aurora back to the medical wing which had somehow become her area of the craft.

  
  


…................................

 

        Tony sat with her in the little room even though she was fully unresponsive. He had turned off the bright lights that shone overhead and was trying not to look at Aurora's blank face. It frightened Tony to see her like this, he may not have known anything about her other than what the videos told him, but he felt a strange connection. He wasn't used to this. Tony didn't know how to deal with a young adult. He knew plenty before, but he usually tried his best to avoid them. His mind at the moment could barely grasp the fact that a week with Tiffany had resulted in a child, another fact was that his daughter was an assassin. An experienced one.

        This was a lot of information to deal with all at once, but he couldn't bring himself to feel the pain that Aurora herself had felt. He knew he couldn't just leave her, she had been trapped in a room filled with blood and the bodies of her friends and comrades. Tony had seen the room, it was a massacre, he couldn't figure out how she had survived, let alone still be able to show emotion.

        When did life get complicated? Tony thought.  _ Right, when Nick Fury had started the Avenger Project. _ He pulled himself from his thoughts and glanced over to Aurora and noticed she was finally sleeping on the bed fitfully with her back to him. Tony sighed and slowly stood up, trying not to wake her, he didn't know when the last time when she had had a proper sleep was. He found that there were a lot of things he didn't know. He left the room with a gentle click of the door and strode back to the briefing room.

        Fury greeted him with orders the moment he stepped into sight. “Tony, you’re back. Good. I need you and Bruce to finish running the tests on the other body samples. We need to find out why these people were chosen and what this message that HAF is trying to send us is.” The man said, not showing any care for Aurora and her reaction when she had entered the room earlier.

        “She's sleeping now, thanks for asking.” Tony said sarcastically as he walked over to the T.V. screens to shut them off. Natasha watched him. “We don't need to find the identities of the other people in that room now.” She thought his voice sounded rougher than usual.

        Clint was lounging on a bench off to the side of the room. “She told you?” He sat up.

        “No, but with the things that happen around her that we've seen over the last week, I think she might be Hunter.” Tony realized his mistake too late. Fury was already out the door and on his way to the medical wing. Tony began to chase him down the hallway. Clint and Natasha would have followed if Steve had not barred their way. Thor stood with Bruce off to the side and watched the moving confrontation from a distance. “Wait, you can't just interrogate her now.” Tony shouted after Fury.

        “Give me one good reason, she has killed many people before Stark, I don't care who she's related to, she has to answer just like everyone else.” Fury continued down the hall, he swung around the corner and barged in through the white door. “Wake up.” He snapped as he entered, Tony close on his tail.

        Aurora burst awake and leaped from the bed to the far wall with one fluent movement, she was ready to fight. She looked at them with widened eyes, observing the objects in her environment and her best escape route. “Hunter, tell us where HAF is.” Fury yelled at her.

        Tony could tell she badly wanted to run, her crouch became lower and she was measuring the distance between herself, the door and Fury. The air in the room was slowly getting heavier, and Tony was getting uneasy about it. “Fury, we should leave. This was a very bad idea.” He pulled at the Director's arm, but it was violently shoved off.

        “No. Hunter, tell me where HAF is.” Fury abruptly reached out and grabbed her arm.

  
  


…................................

 

        Tony's eyes fluttered open and the first thing he felt was the pain in his head. He glanced around and noticed he had woken up in a separate room in the med bay of the ship. He turned his head painfully to his right to see the unconscious Nick Fury on the next bed. He groaned and looked to his other side to find Aurora in the chair next to his bed. “Are you alright?” Her voice was worried but her face didn't show anything, something else she had learned as an assassin, no doubt.

        “Yeah, what happened?” Tony tried to sit up but quickly gave up on the painful endeavor.

        Aurora sighed. “I think it was the rapid expansion of the air particles in the room.” She shrugged slightly. “I've been having difficulty controlling my abilities. They've been going a bit haywire lately.”

        “I would never have guessed,” Tony said sarcastically.

        “I'm sorry.” She mumbled, moving from the chair to leave.

        “No. Wait. You have just have to learn how to control them again. I could help you, you know, I.. I can help you understand how they work.” Tony sputtered the words out awkwardly. “Since I'm your dad and all.” He looked away from her face as he said the last words.

        Aurora walked back over to the bed on which Tony was lying. She looked down at him, Tony just noticed how much she looked like Tiffany. “You know, I'd prefer it if you didn't try to act like a parent to me. I'm used to not having them.” Aurora sank back into the chair as she said her words.

        “So, I shouldn't expect anything for Father's Day?” Tony laughed, hoping to lighten the mood a bit.

        She only looked at him through confused and narrowed eyes. “What's ‘Father's Day’?”

        “You don't know? What other holidays don't you know?” He studied her warm face, he could see his own resemblance in her features as well.

        “How would I know the answer to that?” Aurora said rather coldly.

        “I guess we should give you some sort of test to find out what they actually taught you at HAF.” Tony barely noticed how her eye twitched at the name, he would have to remind himself to tell the others not to mention it.

        Aurora stood up and turned for the door, but paused to look over her shoulder as she laid her hand on the silver door knob. “Just so you're aware, I don't know where they are, I just know they wanted me dead.” She left the room before Tony could say anything in response.

        Tony hit his head gently against his thin pillow, it hurt more than he had anticipated, and he winced. 

  
  


…................................

        Bruce informed Tony later that no one had seen much of Aurora since the accident. In fact that no one knew she was in the medical bay with him at all.

        The next day Tony was allowed out but Director Fury was closer to the explosion and so he was kept for further observation. Tony grinned and waved goodbye to the Director as he left, earning himself a scowl. It wasn't long before Aurora appeared at his side as he walked down the hall to the lab. “I've heard you've been missing lately.” Tony said not looking at her.

        “Yeah everyone's on edge with the explosion. I figured I’d keep out of the way.” Aurora shrugged.

        “Well then, welcome to the lab. I want to know what you know.” He put his hand on her back to guide her into the lab where Bruce was talking with Steve and Thor.

        “Haven't seen you around lately.” Bruce commented to Aurora.

        “Bruce, did you get those tests made up that I asked for?” Tony asked.

        “What are the tests?” Steve asked curiously.

        “They're for Aurora. She doesn't seem to know basic holidays, like Father's Day or maybe Christmas. So I want to know exactly what it is she does know.”

        “Christmas?” Aurora thought for a moment, “That's the one where people go out and say 'trick or treat' right?” Aurora was excited, thinking she was right.

        “Ahh, no that's Halloween. Christmas is the one where people get presents under a tree from Santa.”

        “Santa? The big rabbit?” Confusion was written on her face.

        “That's the Easter bunny. Santa is the fat guy in the red suit.”

        “How do you remember all of this?”

        “I agree with maiden Aurora, humans have odd traditions.” Thor nodded in understanding.

        “Why don't you just take the test.” Tony placed her and the test at the other side of the lab so he and the others could talk.

        “She doesn't seem to know much of what an average kid should know.” Steve said, truly feeling sorry for her.

        “But she is a fierce warrior on the moving picture we watched.” Thor stated.

        “Yeah, but she's still a threat, the room could have been set up for us to find her.” Bruce said.

        “I don't think so. She seemed scared when she woke up and she wanted to find her way out.” Tony defended her.

        “Tony, just try and find out what you can, she seems attached to you.” Steve said.

        “Ok. I'm done.” Aurora stood.

        “All of that?” Tony look at the papers in her hand.

        “I'm fast. Not as fast as Cody, but still fast.” She smiled not realizing she mentioned Lightning’s name.

        “Cody?” Steve lifted an eyebrow.

        She looked down, she really didn't want to think about them now. She swallowed the lump in her throat and excused herself from the room quickly.


	8. The Explanation

       Aurora found herself sitting alone in the helicarrier cafeteria. She didn’t often sit in the open where others could see her, but lately, she felt too tired to hide herself from the people that wandered around the aircraft. She sighed as she watched a fly buzz around the large, empty room before the automatic doors opened to reveal the God of Thunder.

       “Maiden!” Thor boomed. “You’re here alone.” He walked across the room to acquire food at the buffet-styled table against the nearby wall.

       Aurora sighed again, she was not pleased to talk to anyone she had met so far. “Yeah. It’s alright though, I just want to sit here.” She forced a small smile out for the man who came to sit across the table from her. His plate had only been filled with baked sweets.

       “My Lady, you appear sad. Whenever I am sad I like to have this Midgardian food.” Thor smiled brightly and handed one of his many snack foods over to her. “It’s a Pot Tart.”

       “A Pot Tart.” Aurora took the item she was handed to her. “You are eating these now, but you’re not sad.”

       “No.” Thor frowned. “They are good when you are happy as well. But they always pick me up after a difficult time.”

       A small genuine chuckle escaped from between her smiling lips. “Yes, sugar tends to have that effect on people.” Her smile faded slowly, but she slowly bit through the Tart, thinking of her next words carefully. “So, you’re far from home.”

       Thor looked down at the table. “Yes, the group here are my friends.” He paused a moment and shifted uncomfortably. “As well as a woman that I am… Interested in.”

       Aurora lifted an eyebrow, somewhat interested. “Uh-huh?”

       “Her name is Jane, but yes.” Thor laughed awkwardly.

       “So what about all the people in Asgard? Surely there are people there that you left behind?” Aurora searched his face for a while.

       “There are, but I am needed here, and they understand that.” Thor nodded to himself as he answered.

       “I see.” Her tone held a tinge of sadness, but she understood what he spoke of. She often noticed in the past how her companions had stayed behind at times because they knew it was what needed to be done. It was something she was familiar with but was not always satisfied with.

       Aurora thought on this before she realized Thor had been watching her contemplate all of this to herself. Her tone changed quickly to satisfy his gaze. “You know, when I was trying to avoid all of you after I woke up, which I’m sorry for, by the way,” Thor nodded with a smile. “I came into here through the rafters and saw how these tables were made to stack as effectively as possible on top of each other. Perhaps for easy storage, or maybe even to create a barrier. However, I was caught before I could further experiment with the idea.” She gestured around the cafeteria at the twenty or so white lunch tables. “Did you want to assist me with an experiment?”

       Thor nodded happily at Aurora’s change of mood, feeling that he had, in fact, helped her in some way cope with her being here. “I think a barrier is easily made, I will help you in your experiment.”

       “Excellent!” Aurora jumped up from her seat and quickly scanned the room to find the best location for their soon to be tower.

       Thor stuffed the few remaining cookies into his mouth and tossed his tray off to the side onto the buffet table. He strode over to the nearest table and easily lifted it off the floor, he then shifted it to his right arm and picked up yet another with his left. Aurora had begun to tilt some of the tables onto their sides so the benches at the sides touched. She then pushed them together, which, as she suspected, fit together into a solid barrier.

       “Put those on top of each other in a stack over there.” Aurora looked to Thor and gestured behind herself and her progressing barrier. To which Thor proceeded to do, clearly not burdened by the two tables’ weight and was smiling happily.

       It only took them a few minutes to collect all of the tables and divide them between the curved barrier and the towering stack that rose above it in the center. At the top of the pile stood Aurora, looking down at Thor who was readying to toss one of the final tables up to her. Without warning, the door to the cafeteria opened and Clint walked in, looking for food, and not expecting to see all of the surfaces had been commandeered by the two at the back of the room. Thor caught himself moments before he released the table in his hands and turned to look at the door, just as Aurora had done.

       “Yeah, so, this isn’t what I thought of when I was told ‘Aurora and Thor are in the caf.’” Clint stared up at Aurora, truly baffled by the sight before him.

       Aurora looked around, trying to see from Clint’s or another unsuspecting agent’s perspective. “I can see that.” She looked directly to Clint, who still stood in the doorway. “Could you bring the Iast table over here?”

       He shrugged. “Okay.” And tried his best to drag the heavy metal object over to the tower without making it scream as it crossed the room.

       Then, once again, the door at the other end of the room opened, but this time, Natasha stood in the doorway looking none too pleased with the situation in front of her. “And when I asked you to go let Aurora know that Tony wants to talk to her, this is what happens?”

       Clint slowly placed the table back onto the floor and looked to Aurora. “So, I don’t know if you’ve heard; but Tony wants to talk to you.”

       Aurora winced in discomfort from the thought of speaking to Tony again, in a time when she was busy exploring the ship’s inner fortifications. “Nope, haven’t heard.” And with those words she stepped off the tall table stack and plummeted to the floor, only to never connect and pass directly through it to the room below.

       “You’re both cleaning this up.” Natasha stated, leaving the room.

…................................

 

       Aurora had landed on her back, she opened her eyes to see Director Fury glaring down at her. Her smile vanished as she sat up on his desk. She hopped off his desk, brushed herself off and said, “Thank you for your time, that will be all.” in a very casually tone, she managed to get halfway to the door before screaming out and falling to the floor. Fury stared at her writhing body on the floor before calling for a medic.

…................................

  
    _Searing pain. I looked up at Victor he was talking to Greg. My body was jerking but I was tied to a table. I tried calling out for help but no sound passed my lips. I felt a needle press into my neck, the liquid inside it set my veins on fire. I cried for it to stop but my throat was dry and my lips were chapped. No fresh air made into my lungs, my heart desperate for air as my world fades to darkness._

…................................

  
       Aurora was rushed to the medical wing of the ship. She cried out in another language for something, but no one could understand her. They even took an x-ray to see if something was caught in her from the fall through the ceiling.  
       She quieted after half an hour of screaming, but she didn't wake up just yet.  
       Aurora woke up two hours after she fell in Fury's office. Her eyes blinked open, she was alone in the room. She had a moment where she almost bolted out the door, still afraid of HAF. But quickly remembered that she was with the Avengers. She thought for a moment before coming to a conclusion that she must have had a vision again.  
       “Aurora,” Bruce walk through the door, “Do you remember what happened?”  
       “I fell through the floor and onto Fury's desk, I then had a vision. But it's nothing I usually get a shot and the visions go away.” Aurora said.  
       “What are these visions, what do you see?” Bruce sat with a chart to record her answers.  
       “I don't know usually I'm in a lab and their lots of pain. They used to give me a shot of fentanyl, benzodiazepines, and I think something else and then I'm not bothered by them.” Aurora shrugged.  
       “Aurora those can be used as memory suppressants.” Bruce laid down his chart  
       “You mean what I see is what really happened to me?” She was terribly lost, she couldn't understand, all this time they lied.  
       “Yes.” Bruce could tell she was having trouble with this news. “Are you going to be okay?”  
       “I-I just need to process this.” Aurora mumbled, after a moment of thought she looked up again. “Do you have a marble?” Bruce looked at her quizzically.  
       “I just heard are you okay?” Tony entered the room quickly and without warning, making Bruce jump a bit.  
       “Yeah, do you have a marble I'm really tired.” Aurora asked.  
       “No.” Tony frowned, “Wait I think...” he patted his pockets before finding a broken ball bearing he had, “Will this work?” he held out a small metal ball.  
       “Yeah.” She took it and threw it up into the air, but on its downward fall, it stopped. She leaned back in the bed and closed her eyes.  
       “What...?” Tony thought for a moment before saying, “You're creating an energy farm!”  
       “Mmm yeah, I do it when I need the extra energy.” Aurora opened her eyes again.  
       “We only tested her on general knowledge things, maybe we should see how much she knows about physics.” Bruce suggested.  
       “Good no more big rabbits or fat guys in red suits. Can we talk about quantum mechanics and the Meissner effect?” she asked hopefully.  
       “You know those, but not Santa?” Tony shook his head “So then I assume you know about laser cooling, superconductivity and the magnetic fields it creates and how to use this for quantum locking?” Tony crossed his arms as he tried purposely to confuse her.  
       She was staring straight at Tony's face as she calmly replied. “Of course, and that when reaching absolute zero all particles of matter cease movement and all chaotic disorder disappears.”  
       Tony looked at her for a moment. “But that's only theatrical it hasn't been proven yet due to our inability to reach those temperatures.” Tony stated, figuring it would be left at that. It wasn't.  
       “No, it's possible. You're just dense.” Tony flinched at the insult which made Bruce snicker at his dismay. Aurora continued. “I mean, using the temperature of zero Kelvin, and provided that this is in a perfectly enclosed system without any outer influence, then one can perfectly preserve something and its matter. But if anything were to penetrate the enclosure then some heat would be returned and the matter would become chaotic again.” She looked at Tony's expression for a moment before continuing more quietly. “If the living matter was able to be suddenly held in this state, then they could be preserved. Well, the likelihood of survival is minuscule, but the moment that this state is released and heated back to a normal temperature, a simple shock to the heart could restart it. Technically.” She blinked and looked away towards the ball bearing, it had fallen to the ground. Aurora sighed. “If all the conditions were perfect and the minuscule likelihood of survival was met. Then if the organism used the last bit of brain power it had from when it was frozen, and had the ability to send a shock to its own heart, and did so, then it theoretically could survive. But it would have to issue the command within a second before the energy to the brain fully died.”  
       “The room.” Tony came to the understanding, “That would explain the differences in the time. Why the building has been empty for a year and the room was only a month. You made the temperature zero Kelvin. But that would mean when I cut the door you could have died.” Tony looked at her.  
       “Yeah I managed to send a shock to my heart, but I wasn't sure if I even lived. After all, I was really confused with everything that happened before I sent the room into a deep freeze.” Aurora sighed again.  
       “You could have died.” Tony really not letting that fact go.  
       “You still on that? I'm fine. Really. Look, if I hadn't used high energy quantum tunneling, I wouldn't be in any pain at all. Except for the fall from the tables of course.” Aurora shrugged.  
       Bruce exhaled a long breath. “Yep, they're related.” He muttered to himself.  
       “Tony?” Steve opened the door. “Fury says that when Aurora's better that he want us to see how she fights with and without her powers.”


	9. The Training Session

      It was the next day when the Avengers found themselves in the training room with Aurora. She had been quick to recover fully from the painful burst of memory, Bruce was still worried about her physical state but Aurora refused to stay in the medical bay room any longer.

      Aurora was standing in the center of the helicarrier's large training room, Natasha stood a few meters away prepared to fight her. It was somewhat cold in the hollow area of the craft but the two assassins took no notice of the temperature and were instead staring at each other, observing each other's potential weak points and best forms of attack. Aurora was not used to having the time to size the other player up before a fight, but she noticed instantly that she had the upper hand. Aurora was heavier built, she had more muscle from an entire life of training and she was also an inch or so taller than the Widow. It would be a fruitless victory.

      “Natasha, Aurora, don't hurt each other too badly and also, Aurora, no powers. But still, fight like you are enemies... Just please don't hurt each other.” Steve said before he dashed up onto a cargo container where the rest of the Avengers had gathered to observe.

      “You just said that. I don't need to be reminded every five seconds.” Aurora yelled after him while she maintained eye contact with Natasha.

      “Terms are whoever surrenders first, whether it be because of exhaustion, being pinned or whatever, loses.” Tony said sitting with Bruce beside him, who held a clipboard and a timer at the ready.

      “You may want to rethink your terms. Assassins of my stature are taught firstly to never surrender, even when they know they will be greeted with death. There is nothing that would make me do so either. Do reconsider.” Aurora's eyes never left Natasha's slim frame, even if Natasha herself glanced over towards the two referees.

      “Um...” Bruce looked over at Tony with worry streaked across his face. “Well, how about whoever remains pinned down for more than 10 seconds loses? Can you work with that?” Bruce called down.

      “That's easily doable.” Aurora confirmed.

      “Then go.” Bruce started the stopwatch.

      Aurora's stood perfectly still and watched as Natasha slowly stalked around her to get to her back. Aurora's head was the only part of her that moved as she followed Black Widow's motions. She waited until Natasha had reached her backside before she let her gaze lift from the other assassin, and when she did she turned her head back to the front and closed her eyes. Natasha thought it strange but took the moment to rush at Aurora. Who, with an incredibly fast reaction time, spun around, put a well-placed hand on Widow's shoulder and gracefully flipped over her attacker. She landed soundlessly with her back yet again turned to Natasha as if mocking her.

      “Damn...” Aurora heard Clint mutter under his breath, making her smirk quickly to herself. _Just assessing speed, Clint._ She thought.

      Natasha rushed forwards again and lashed out to take Aurora's legs out from under her. But to everyone's surprise, Aurora dove forwards and rolled across the floor into the wall where she leaned, arms crossed and in the shadows watching Black Widow closely.

      Natasha was beginning to breathe harder, her heart rate was starting to quicken and her shoulder seemed much heavier than usual, she was having great difficulty lifting it. _What did she do? Hit a pressure point?_ Natasha didn't move to attack again, she knew that Aurora would just find a way to avoid her, she was being played to exhaustion. Natasha saw a dark smile crawl across Aurora's features from the shadows, it was her turn to attack. Natasha prepared herself for the next fight.

      Aurora slowly stalked in the shadows, moving from one dark corner around the containers and equipment to another, never looking away from Natasha. After a moment she leapt forward, Natasha wasn't fully prepared for the extent of the swift and powerful movement and was forced to the ground from the impact. Aurora had slid across the floor, taking out Widow's legs on the way past and was now somehow digging her knee into Natasha's spine.

      A countdown from Bruce started and Natasha struggled as best she could to remove the iron grip Aurora had on both her arms. She tried to flip over and to kick her attacker off but it only made the pressure heavier, how that was possible, she could only guess. The countdown ended and Aurora lifted off. Natasha sprung to her feet angrily and looked over at Aurora, she was already ignoring her and staring at the group upon the container, waiting for their responses to the scene they had witnessed.

      After a moment of speaking with Bruce, Tony spoke; “Steve why don't you start and help Black Widow there.” Steve shrugged and jumped from the height. It was obvious they weren't pushing Aurora's limit.

      “Are you against me or something?” Aurora yelled at Tony as she began to back away from the new enemy.

      “What? You want help?” He called back.

      “Hell no.” Aurora was now faced with the two opponents. She backed into the shadows once again and stood to inspect Steve. He didn't have his shield but still, she could consider him a larger threat than Natasha due to his strength. She decided to remove Black Widow first so she could focus her attention on him without distractions.

      Aurora made the first move this time, dashing effortlessly up the wall beside her, she leapt from it to another shipping container that sat nearby. Steve followed her instantly, running up the side of the metal container and perusing her. Natasha stayed on the ground, ready for Aurora's escape from the super soldier. Instead, she was surprised to see Aurora engage Steve head to head with very quick and fluent movements, he returned some but they were easily blocked and Aurora eventually knocking Steve backward off the container, he fell to the hard floor with a loud thud. Aurora instantly decided to change her plan, she leapt from the container onto Steve, pinning him down with a hand on his throat. A countdown started.

      Natasha ran forwards now, she intended to kick Aurora off of Steve but with a blinding movement she was dropped face first onto Steve, Aurora locked them both under her strong body. The Widow's countdown began. Steve kicked his legs out towards Aurora but only came into contact with air, she had shifted her position so her shin was over Steve's neck pressing down, daring him to attempt to simply lift her off of him and Natasha's arms were pulled back behind her head. The Captain's countdown ended.

      Natasha struggled more, but Aurora had let go of Steve, since he could be considered defeated, and was laying on top of her. Her legs were trapped under Aurora's and her arms were not moving. She could only move her head back in an attempt to hit Aurora in the nose, which also failed. She was released again when Bruce counted 10.

      Tony looked over at Bruce, both men's eyes were filled with amazement as well as concern. If they couldn't beat this one girl when they added Clint and Thor to the mix, then they would not have stood a chance if all the HAF assassins were still alive and they had walked into their nest.

      “Okay, Clint and Thor, you can join in now and Clint and Natasha can have weapons. Aurora you can use the full extent of your abilities.” Maria Hill said who had just entered with Director Fury to observe the exercise. Clint lifted his bow from his side and hopped from the container on which he was sitting. His arrows were equipped with dulled training tips that would not so easily penetrate human flesh. Natasha avoided her gun and instead grabbed a long rod.

      The group of four assembled in front of a now tiring Aurora. “Seems a little unfair, don't you think?” She spared a glance over at Tony and Bruce.

      “Too tired?” Bruce asked, somewhat concerned for her, since this was the first extensive exercise for her since she woke up.

      Aurora only laughed. “I meant for them.” She suddenly disappeared from sight.

      Clint raised his bow and tracked it around the room, no sound could be heard besides the group's tense breathing. “Tony, Bruce, any ideas what she's doing?”

      “Not really sure... Whoa!” Tony flinched and nearly fell from his perch on the shipping container when Aurora appeared silently beside him. Her assailants down below spun and faced her.

      “Bending light. So simple just to redirect the flow of photons, like a black hole, but also not. Absorbing sound energy from my footsteps, and...” the lights in the room suddenly faded out. Aurora disappeared again, only her voice could be heard. “Stealing light energy produced by the bulbs. Heat too. I could take the very electricity from the wires, but right now I wouldn't want to pull the ship from the sky. Not unless I need to.” Her voice sounded across the room. “So. Find me.”

      The group on the floor spun on the spot trying desperately to locate Aurora. Natasha flipped the rod around in her hands trying to ready for an invisible attack from any angle. Her hand began to sting and she glanced down at the metal staff in her hands, it was beginning to glow red and soon it was burning her flesh. She dropped it just in time for a sourceless force to push her backward into Steve's back, he spun and stopped himself when he realized it was Natasha. The group watched as Aurora flashed into existence with a short flare of blinding light. They shielded their eyes from the white light emitted from her body and barely saw as she lifted Natasha's staff. Its red hot glow died and was replaced quickly with frost at her touch. Cold mist flowed off its metal surface to the floor in the once again dim environment.

      Aurora chuckled as she looked at the stunned faces and with an earsplitting crack, she planted one end of the staff against the floor and let it stand there, perfectly vertical on its end. Clint released an arrow but she disappeared a third time, the projectile simply hit the wall beyond. The group's eyes were still seeing spots and the flare form that Aurora created, they were having a lot of difficulties readjusting to the dark room.

      “She's still bending the light around her guys, be careful.” Tony called, he knew if Ironman was out there he wouldn't even be moving, he would be useless in a fight against her, maybe worse, he might even be used as an energy source. At that moment Steve was roughly pushed forward and a blur aimed a kick at Thor, it caught him in the chest and he was forced across the room by the explosion that was made on contact.

      The room plummeted in temperature, making it difficult for Clint to hold his bow properly, and seeing this, Aurora appeared in front of him at a distance. Natasha attempted to attack her and managed to hold her still for a very brief moment, perhaps simply because Aurora had allowed it. Clint took the opportunity to fire an arrow in her direction but Aurora grabbed the Widow's arm and wrapped her body in front of her own. Using Natasha as a shield, the arrow came into contact with her ribs and soon she was quickly discarded.

      Tony could barely catch the fast reaction but after a second spoke into the dim light. “Natasha, you're out. Come back up here.” Natasha grudgingly climbed onto the container as Aurora was engaged in a full block and punch fist fight with Steve. Electricity seemed to jump from her hands and body where she came into contact with him. Every hit made Steve noticeably slower and weaker.

      Thor grabbed Aurora from behind and trapped her arms. Aurora growled and snapped her head back, it connected with his chest but the force that was exerted was incredible, Thor had no choice but to release her arms to steady himself. The assassin used the pause to dash over to the still standing icy staff and grab it from its position. She turned and spun it above her head, light flared on the tips of the rod and fire began to burn in the air around the rotating pole, illuminating the area around her in a warm, flickering, flame bathed light.

      “Time's up.” Aurora muttered to herself. She struck the staff into the floor again and both Thor and Steve fell to their knees heavily. Aurora stood over them and smiled, she tapped the staff on the ground again, the two fell onto their chests and could not rise. They struggled, but only wore themselves out more.

      Aurora disappeared once again to focus her attention on the archer across the room. She crossed the room and was confronted with an angry looking Natasha. Aurora spitefully made herself visible and was engaging the Widow again, even though she was supposed to be out of the fight.

      Now that she was able to be seen, Clint aimed a practiced arrow at her. She turned in time to see the missile, but not enough time to move from its path. Yet as the arrow should have come into contact with her, it instead passed unhindered through her shoulder, she only grunted and continued with the fight.

      Bruce finally spoke. “Wait, wait!” Everyone stopped to look at him. “You can control the phasing through objects? How?”

      “Yeah. I can do it a few different ways, none hurt any less though.” Aurora was holding her shoulder and warily watching Natasha. “Aren't you out?” She growled.

      “Probably.” Natasha had a smug look on her face, it made Aurora angry, it was the same false sense of superiority that Deception held around her.

      “Fine then, I'm done playing easy.” Aurora snarled. Natasha's expression faded away when she immediately found herself pressed into the floor with Clint across from her, they were held down in much the same manner as Thor and Steve, who had long given up on struggling.

      “So how do you do that?” Tony asked, coming up behind Aurora.

      She looked down on Natasha with a dark and superior air around her. “It was easy, just a few electrons saying the right things, and you can't fight it.” She said calmly, very little emotion showed in her voice. 

      Tony moved his hand over Natasha. It collided with nothing. Bruce clambered down from his seat to stand beside them. Aurora sighed and released all of her prisoners then wandered over to Steve to talk.

      Bruce looked over at Tony. “We would all be dead if we had encountered anyone in that building.” He whispered low enough that Aurora could not hear. "Most of what she did was just toying with them. When she wanted them out, it was done instantly and I don't even think it was any effort."

      “Yeah.”

      "I think we should clean up guys. Hit the showers." Hill called. She turned to follow Nick from the room and paused to call over her shoulder. "And somebody turn up the heat before you leave, it's freezing in here." And with that, she left with the information she and the Director had gathered on Aurora.

….........................................

      “Very interesting. I must keep an eye on this mortal.” Spoke a tall, dark figure who stood watching from the shadows, unknown to the group.

….........................................

 


	10. The Black Poison

     Aurora was thankful for a break, she used to love training but without her friends, it wasn't the same. Cody wasn't there with a wisecrack, Sara didn't have a weird invention to try out, Amelia wasn't talking to some animal trying it out as a pet, Lucas wasn't flying around or crashing into something. Then there was Zachery, granted he was only a crush but she did like him, he could always create a perfect illusion to make her smile. She sighed what she would give to see an illusion of his. She was now walking along a hallway that was lined with windows on the one side. She leaned against the railing to look out the window, it was open sky and ocean for as far as she could see. The craft was flying quite low.

     “A lovely view is it not?” Thor up stepped beside her.

     “Yeah.” Aurora somewhat recognized the layout despite it being water all around and a possible shore at the farthest edge, nearly fully concealed in fog. Something large protruded from the waves below them.

     The ship shuddered in the air, knocking Aurora off her feet into Thor. “What was that?” Thor looked around.

     “We're losing altitude. We better get to the control room.” Aurora dashed off.

 

     They entered into the cockpit of the ship where the other Avengers were, most of the lights were out and monitors were flashing with static, in every direction SHIELD agents were rushing around “All systems down Sir, we're falling!” Maria Hill yelled as the last lights flickered out, leaving the ship with only the light coming in through the large front window.

     “Get the backup energy on line.” Fury shouted as the downward pull of gravity was felt on everyone.

     “We can't Sir!”

     “Shit, the electromagnetic engine crashed the power.” Aurora muttered to herself, she knew she recognized the area. “Thor! Drop your hammer.” Aurora shouted above the bustle of the room.

     “What?”

     “Do it!” Thor lifted his hammer and let go. To his surprise, it hovered but was slowly sinking to the floor. Aurora's scream cut through the air, she fell down on her hands and knees shaking. The ship's systems came back to life the moment after Thor let go of Mjölner. Thor managed to catch the hammer before it collided with the floor. Aurora was still shaking trying to find a place for the energy that was now stored in her body.

     “All systems are back online and everything is a go.” Agent Hill reported. Lights illuminated the room and the computers stabilized.

     “Aurora. Are you okay” Thor placed a hand on her back and immediately regretted it as a shock wave travelled through his arm. He stumbled back against a wall, staring at her.

     “She's created an energy farm on a massive size to power the ship,” Tony said. “She must still have energy stored inside her. Aurora, turn it into light.” Tony also regretted this as she took his advice and white light poured from her body and into every crevice of the room. He was able to close his eyes before he was blinded. When everyone could see again Aurora was passed out on the floor, spent from the energy that had passed through her.

 

     A while later Aurora found herself once again in a medical room. She sighed at how often she had ended up here. “Hello.” Tony sat beside the bed.

     “Hi.” she grinned.

     “Aurora, why didn't you used the force of the ship falling instead of Thor's hammer?”

     “I tried but there wasn't enough energy, the ship would have hit the water before the systems would be able to support it again. Thor's hammer was my only solution.” she shrugged. “Maybe I shouldn't have released the rest of the energy as light though.”

     “Yeah, but that was my fault, I suggested it.” Tony mirrored her shrug.

     “How long until I can leave this room... again?” She sighed, really not liking anything that can be considered a lab.

     “Soon as you feel up to it.” Aurora immediately sat up and moved her feet to the floor in an attempt to stand. Thankfully Tony caught her as her legs turn to mush. “Let me rephrase that: When you can walk out by yourself.”

     “Fine.” She tried again this time removing the most of the downward pull of gravity from herself, keeping enough that she would be able to move around normally, “Perfect.” she smiled.

     “You're creating another energy farm again, aren't you?” She nodded. “How often do you do that exactly?”

     “Whenever I feel like it.” She found this technique perfectly normal. Despite being told many times by many people that it was scientifically impossible. Yet she was able to comprehend it and use this ability to her advantage.

     “What is that?” Tony looked at her right arm which had acquired a large black spot. It looked as if the blood in her veins had turned black and whatever it was, was spreading to the surrounding skin and nearly reaching from her inner elbow to her wrist.

     “Shit.” She looked around the room, she quickly grabbed the sharpest instrument she could find that was laying on a nearby table. She continued to make a cut down in her arm where the blackness was the worst.

     “What are you doing?” Tony couldn't help but watch as black liquid poured from the wound. She didn't answer but instead searched around in the wound and finally pulled something from the gash. Blood and black ooze pouring down her fingers and arm.

     “Great, I need a new one.” Aurora sighed, she looked at Tony who stood wide-eyed looking at her, “Oh sorry, this is a chip, it helps me when I absorb too much energy, in short; it keeps me alive, I have 24 hours to replace it from when it stopped.” she frowned, and, heating the sharp piece of metal in her hand, she cauterized the cut on her arm closed. “How long have I been here in the med bay?”

     “Umm, about 12 hours. How, uh, where do we get one?” Tony was still looking at the black mess.

     “Damn, I need to get back to the old HAF base, we had some there. I don't think we have the materials to make any here on the carrier.” She winced at the thought. “It happened a lot...”

     “Yeah, I'll go tell Fury to get us there.” Tony stammered. He pulled her along by her good arm out to the main control deck where the rest of the Avengers were still gathered. “Fury we need to get back to the HAF base.” Tony ordered.

     “Why?”

     “What the hell happened to your arm!” Clint said as he spotted the mess on her arm.

     “Nothing really yet, I just need to get a new chip,” She held up the old fried one for him to see, it was difficult to even make out with the extent of the damage and the residue that remained on it. “If I don't get a new one in 12 hours I'll die. Also, someone should very much clean up the med bay, utmost hazard.”

     “That's impossible, we're 13 hours out.” Hill spoke as she looked to Fury, waiting for an order to change the course of the helicarrier anyway. She looked away to a passing agent when she received none and ordered the woman to dispatch cleaning to the medical wing.

     “Is there any way we can slow it down?” Bruce asked.

     “Yeah but Tony won't like it.” She said as everyone gave her curious looks, “You have to stop my heart. It so this black stuff you see doesn't poison me. If it reaches my heart, I'm gone. Oh, and I can't be near anything that puts off too much energy or that will fry my heart by accelerating it. The only reason it hasn't already moved farther is because it's slow to start when I'm unconscious. Though once I'm awake or it's past this point, it spreads twice as fast.”

     Tony quickly left her side to stand across the room from her. “How much of that stuff is in you? And how do we get it out once the chip is in?” Natasha looked from the small chip to the source of the black veins, she could slowly see it etching its way under her skin if she stared at the end of one of the dark tendrils.

     “Once I get a new chip I can handle that myself. ” Aurora stated. "Though the longer it takes to get the new chip, the less responsive I'll be, this stuff burns like acid from the inside."

     “So how do we stop your heart without killing you?” Bruce pondered aloud to the group.

     “Well, the smaller planes in the hanger will get us there in half the time.” Clint pointed out. Silence filled the room before everyone dashed out towards the hanger.

 

….......................................

 

     They were on the small jet for hours. Tony wanted very badly to sit beside Aurora who was huddled on the floor in the far corner of the craft in an attempt to stay her distance from both Tony and the engines of the plane. He watched as she shuddered and hugged her knees closer to her body. She had said that she had only 12 more hours to live and that energy sources accelerate the poison’s progress through her body and since they had been in the air for much of that time, she was in deep pain.

     Natasha sighed at the girl sitting on the floor and wandered over. Kneeling in front of her she tried looking for her face that was buried against her chest. Aurora wheezed in a breath but quickly stopped due to the sharp pain that she felt run through her torso. Natasha barely touched Aurora’s arm when she flinched violently inward to guard herself. Her head snapped upwards and the group could now see the full extent of the poison that filled her body, they were taken aback.

     Black veins crept up her neck and were slowly etching their way across her face, covering almost half, her arms had both fully blackened and the group could barely see Aurora’s skin colour. She swallowed painfully and carefully shifted her gaze to the surprised group. As she turned her head Tony had to look away from her fully blackened and unseeing right eye.

     She tried a light chuckle but it turned into a harsh cough. “That bad, is it?” Her words came from her lips with great effort, for she winced as she spoke, even then they were hardly able to be heard by even Natasha who crouched just inches away.

     “You’ll waste your energy if you speak.” Natasha warned gently. Aurora’s head only fell back onto her chest lazily.

………………………………

 

     It was another hour and a half before the small plane landed outside the former HAF base. A chill ran through the group as the engine came to a halt. Clint rose from the pilot’s seat and strode over to Aurora, who hadn’t seemed to notice the absence of noise and movement.

     “We’re here. Aurora?” He knelt down and had to stop himself from touching her arm. Instead, he tapped the metal floor in front of her. Tony looked over Clint’s shoulder from a distance and Bruce slowly walked over. Thor and Steve had opened the hatch and were making their way from the jet. When Aurora didn’t respond to the small sound Clint tapped slightly louder. “Are you alright?” He asked timidly. Bruce took another step forward as Tony paced anxiously behind them. Aurora finally shifted. It was slight and sluggish but it made them all breathe a small sigh of relief.

     “Can you stand?” Bruce asked looking at the mass on the floor. It moved again and with a low growling noise, positioned itself unsteadily on its hands and knees. Aurora couldn’t raise herself any higher and with an excruciating cough, muttered for help. Clint nodded and unsure of how to aid her, he moved his head lower to her body and gently gripped her arm then moved it over his head. She hissed and winced at the contact with her skin, but allowed herself to be lifted from the metal floor. Her body was heavy on Clint’s shoulder, proving that she couldn’t hold any of her own weight. Clint very slowly eased her from the jet.

     It took time and much effort for the small group to enter the abandoned building once again. They could still remember the room and what had laid in it. None of them doubted that Aurora had forgotten either. _It was strong of her to return to the base,_ Tony thought. _though she wasn’t given much choice._

     For the movement, Aurora had gained enough strength to be able to stand on her own, and after a dark and resentful glare from both an unseeing eye and a still coloured one, they agreed to let her walk without aid, but Clint and Steve still stood on either side of her in case she needed the support. She led them through the dirty halls and to a staircase, which upon seeing, Aurora growled deep in her chest again, since it was the only response that she could give that caused the least pain.

     “I need up there…” She managed to croak before going into a heavy fit of dry coughing.

     “I could carry you, but you won’t like it.” Steve said in response.

     “She doesn’t have much of a choice if she wants to survive.” Natasha reminded him quickly. Steve only nodded and carefully lifted Aurora; she didn’t look at his face as she was effortlessly carried up the flight of stairs.

     “I’m worried about this,” Bruce muttered to Tony, both of which had stayed in the back of the group, keeping their distance from Aurora. Tony was afraid of speeding the poison flowing through her body even more.

     “You’re worried? You’re worried?! That’s all? She could die!” Tony shouted. He glanced over to where Steve had set Aurora down up the stairs; he hoped that she couldn’t hear him.

     “She can’t hear you.” Bruce assured him when he watched Tony’s head turn in Aurora’s direction. Tony looked back at him with a worried sigh. “I think the poison in her body is slowly destroying her senses. She probably can’t see out of her right eye, and most likely can’t hear out of her right ear as well, and I wouldn’t doubt she can’t control her right arm. It seems whatever the poison is, it’s attacking her nerves, the ones that control her senses, and it most likely will affect her thoughts, memories and her control over her abilities.”     

     “That’s not helping.” Tony grumbled before turning away to follow the once again moving group.


	11. The Darkest Experiment

     Aurora leant against the wall for support as she made her way down yet another hallway. Her head was spinning and she was surprised that she could still see with her left eye, even if it was slowly becoming blurry and dark. Every movement she made burned her body and the only thing that kept her from collapsing was the wall beside her.

     Aurora stopped beside a small grey box that was fixed to the wall. She moved her head so her good eye could see the red button that extended from its side. With as much momentum as she could get in her movements, she slammed her hand into the button. Acid tore through her from her hand and up her arm, she bit down on her lip to stop from screaming out. The metal door on the box popped open and once she regained her composure, she tugged ten small chips from the many slots that filled the box.

     Glancing from the chips in her hand she put them in one of her many pockets, and looked back to the grey box; she suddenly stood terrified, staring at a thick metal tube that was clipped to the inner frame. It looked to be in good condition compared to the state the rest of the building was in. She closed her eyes and lifted her still responding arm to rest her blackening hand on the large syringe type object. She jerked it from its resting spot, placed it in her other pocket and continued down the hall to a large open door.

     She stopped again and turned to face the little group that had been silently following her, or at least they seemed silent, for her hearing was nearly gone. Their bodies seemed to swirl and pulse as she watched them for a moment before turning herself around the door frame and into the dark room beyond.

     “Stay here, under no circumstances, no matter what you may hear, should you open this door.” Aurora had managed to get the sentence out painfully as she leant her shoulder against the frame.

     “Hell no!” Tony moved to her side but Aurora’s darkened eyes only attempted to focus on something behind him, she seemed completely fixated on whatever was down the hall.

     She began to breathe heavily despite the amount it hurt her chest and ribs. Her voice that left her lips was only in a whisper, but the whole group was close enough to hear her words. “They found us...”

     The group immediately spun to look in the direction she was so affixed to. None of them had heard anything or anyone coming up behind them, but if they were anything like Aurora herself, would they have heard anyone anyway? The group stared down the dimly lit hallway, searching for any small movement or flicker that could give away the people Aurora was referring to. But instead of seeing anything in the hall before them they heard a door shut next to them with a loud and vibrated screech. The group realized Aurora's actions and called out for her to wait but she likely couldn’t hear them. The moment the mechanical security mechanism locked the door, Aurora collapsed to the tiled floor. She could feel through her back the group tapping on the other side of the door, but to no avail did it open.

_That was easy enough._ She thought to herself, though her energy was nearly spent from quickly forcing the door closed before they noticed her plan. She had told Tony that she had 12 hours left to live from the time that she had awoken on the helicarrier, and that surrounding energy would accelerate the poison’s effects.

     Her energy was nearly spent. She had told Tony that she had 12 hours left to live from the time that she had awoken on the helicarrier, and that surrounding energy would accelerate the poison’s effects. So, reasonably, the group could assume that upon reaching the base she would still have 6 hours of her life remaining. What she didn’t mention was that when they walked through the door to her former base she could feel that, due to the large amount of energy surrounding her, she had grown to have less than an hour to live. She felt the sting of the black poison throughout her body, every inch of her was burning.

     The tapping on the door behind her stopped with one final heavy beat and her weak limbs nearly didn’t allow her to push herself across the dusty tiles towards a long, shallow basin, just long and deep enough for a human to lie down comfortably in whilst fully submerged. The metallic tub sat on the floor, like much of the other objects in the room, but it gave off an eerie silver glow. Aurora thought that it could just be a trick of her failing eyes, as they caught the very little amount of light that seeped in from the tiny window, high up on the wall of the lab.

     She forced her body across the floor, dragging it closer to the basin’s aura. Dirt clung to her clothes and hair as her arm gave way under her body, inches away from the tub. She reached upwards to grasp the slippery edge and with much of her remaining strength, she lifted herself up and tumbled forward heavily into the basin. Another flare of pain rocketed through her body and unable to hold it in, she screamed as the intense sting shredded her nerves. She couldn’t hear her own scream in the dark lab, let alone the pounding that sounded on the door again, however, it still did not open.

     Shifting her aching body, Aurora positioned herself in the basin so that she fit perfectly, and using a pocket knife she kept in her shirt, she dug the gash in her right arm deeper. More black fluid gushed from the reopened wound and she screamed again, she shoved the new chip into an electronic holder that was positioned just under her forearm bone. The dark liquid began to fill the tub in which she lay, and with a click, the chip secured itself in her arm. None of the pain left her body as she did so, instead it intensified. A new wave of pain shot through her and her body heat rose quickly. She desperately raised her arm towards a faucet that sat on the edge of the basin to her right and pulled the lever.

     Aurora had expected a flow of icy cold water to flow from the tap above her head, but instead, it simply creaked. Her body was beginning to burn as the chip was reacting with the poison in her body, Aurora could feel the intense heat flare from her body in waves as shifted uncomfortably, pulling repeatedly at the faucet.

     Darkness took over her sight and she closed her eyes. She let her arm fall back to her side and tried not to scream as her body heat radiated the room around her. “No water huh? Then I really will die here. Sorry guys.” She lifted the large syringe from her pocket. “I have one more chance.” She couldn’t see the way the metal glistened in the dim light, but she could feel it’s cold brilliance in her weak and shaking hand.

     Something cold brushed gently down her powerless forearm. She flinched away slightly from the unknown object that stroked her arm a second time, it both soothed her skin and stung it. She moved her other arm over to touch the icy thing that grazed her, she could barely feel it in her failing fingers, it seemed much like a hand. Normally she would have fought such contact from an unknown source, but she simply did not have the strength. She inhaled a sharp and agonizing breath.

     The hand ceased its path down her arm for the third time and Aurora found something cool had gently begun to wrap itself around her body, it was soothing and slowly eased the burning heat that surrounded her. Water had begun to fill the basin, it seemed to rise from the bottom and simply come into existence. Aurora felt the water rise to nearly cover her face, she rested there for a moment before raising the large syringe into the air, something on it clicked and with the final remainder of her strength, she plunged the object deep into her upper chest. A fiery shock jolted her body, and despite her forceful wish to pull it away, she kept the object against her chest. Aurora shut her eyes tight and waited. The tube clicked again and a long thick needle shot out from the end, it dove into her chest and through the bone that protected her heart. She tried her best not to move it when another cry shattered through the room. She could feel the wide needle burrow itself in her body, crashing through her bone and punctured her heart where it stopped.

     Her yell died down, the water that hugged her was warm, but it seemed to cool down when it repeatedly became the same temperature as her searing flesh. Her heart did not leak blood; instead, the needle stayed put and somehow held it shut despite its beating. She let her hand fall into the water beside her, water reached upwards to splash into her warm face. It felt good.

     She lay there for a minute, the syringe embedded in her chest, and holding back the throbbing that still flowed through her veins with every pulse. A memory surfaced in her tired mind, she remembered when Victor had created the device that now produced from her upper body. Jasper had been there, he was still very young but he spoke as if he were an adult. Aurora could recall how Victor had forced her to use her powers and overload the chip; she could also recall how Victor, despite Jasper’s threatening arguments, had refused to help her until she had only ten minutes of her life remaining. Then, and only then, did he thrust the test device into her chest to help neutralize the poison. That time the black fluid had reached her heart, but the syringe device had saved her.

     The pain seemed to lessen as she rested there. She lifted her arm once again, but the blackness still infested it. She opened her eyes; she had regained some of her sight but still couldn’t see her surroundings very well. The mysterious water cooled itself down again. Suddenly liquid fire shot through her body, it sped through her limbs and centred at her chest, she couldn’t hear herself, but she felt her voice shake with another heavy cry. She knew the poison had reached her heart. What little sight she had went black.

 

                                                                                                                              ………………………………… _._

 

_I still remember it. A long time ago. The day that Victor tested the black acid syringe. I remember how he brought me to the edge of death just to try it. The pain that I felt as it crashed through my chest, cracking and shattering my breastbone... The fiery sting as it pierced into my heart. Every beat burned. Every beat was a new agony that I grew to fear...I hated it...all of it. Even He wanted Victor to stop..._

 

                                                                                                                              ………………………………… _._

 

     Aurora awoke a while later. Still lying in the basin filled with cool and refreshing water, all the pain she had felt earlier had vanished. She opened her eyes, her sight had fully returned and she could see the syringe object expanding repeatedly lengthwise. It moved with a smooth, calming rhythm as it pumped with a soft hissing sound. A non-mixing tube of black fluid and blood filled the tube at end of the object, but it was not that that held her attention at the moment. A dark figure stood in the distant corner of the lab, Aurora didn’t see it for long before it seemingly disappeared from existence, leaving her once again alone in the room.

     Aurora hesitantly returned her attention to her condition. The black fluid that filled her body had receded and now only existed in minuscule amounts around where the syringe was pumping. She plopped her head back down into the water and bobbed it there for another ten minutes. With a click and a quick pinch, the syringe device pulled its needle from Aurora’s chest and rolled off her body, it left a puncture wound but somehow her heart did not bleed, she caught the object before it hit the water.

     “Kind of want to study this actually.” She muttered to herself, shifting once again in the water to replace the object in one of the soaked pockets of her black cargo pants.

     Aurora sat up slowly, placing her hands on the edges of the tub to support herself. Her vision spun for a moment but it quickly cleared and she stood. The water that rested in the basin began to drain somehow, for there was no path for it to take from the large container, she was more so surprised when the water that clung to her clothes, making them heavy, had also disappeared. Aurora frowned and stepped out, her energy had near fully recovered and she merely needed to harness the power from one of her energy farms.

     She chose to do that later and strode over to one of the lab benches in the dimly lit room; the sun had seemed to have risen while she was unconscious and after a moment of searching found a burner. Which she proceeded to light and using a piece of the better-looking metal in the room, Aurora heated it until it flared red and slowly dragged it down the length of the wound where the chip had been replaced. Her face only twitched as her skin was melted back together, as this pain was not even comparable to that which she had faced earlier.

     Placing the metal on the bench and putting out the burner, Aurora looked over her arm and the scar that it left. It was only about two inches long but it was quite deep from repeated replacements of the chip, and cauterizing the wound was the fastest way for her to seal the gash. Aurora nodded contently with her handiwork and wandered over to the lab door. She disarmed the locking mechanism and swung it open with ease. Too much ease, for it slammed violently against the wall behind it, waking up a sleeping Natasha and scaring a drowsy Clint.

     It took a moment before Clint realized what was going on, but out of nowhere Tony and Bruce appeared and were already poking, prodding and inspecting her. She frowned and with a light energy pulse, pushed them both away.

     “Quit it.” She growled. “How long was I in there?”

     It was Steve who answered, “About 4 hours. We were all worried, but we couldn’t get in. We didn’t know what had happened when you started screaming...” he trailed off.

     “Aurora, are you alright now?” Thor had his hand reached out to her in case she still needed any aid.

     Aurora stretched and ignored his hand, she seemed not to care about what had happened, or she just didn’t want to remember it. She yawned as she came out of the stretch. “Yeah, just don’t ever let the helicarrier lose power over another electromagnetic engine again. I don’t have time for that.” She pushed past Tony and walked down the halls. The group of Avengers looked between each other before they followed her through a new series of hallways.

     “So what was it that drained the energy from the ship?” Steve asked her.

     She spoke as she continued to lead them, she walked as confidently as she had done a thousand times in these halls before. “I already told you, an electromagnetic engine. From WOLFE.” Her tone changed at the name.

     “WOLFE?” Steve pushed.

     “Never mind.” She growled. Her mood was bitter.

     "You tricked us." Tony began before receiving an uncaring look from Aurora. _She had probably done things like that before. When she was one of them._

 

                                                                                                                              ………………………………… _._

 

     Thor thought all the halls looked the same and didn’t notice when the group had taken a different route when he was looking away. He stood a moment before Aurora’s head popped from a nearby doorway further down the corridor. “This place was designed as a maze for that reason, Thor, keep up.” Her head disappeared again and Thor rushed to its former location. Aurora was leaning against a wall waiting for him when he turned into the large open room. It looked to him like a low ceiling dining hall, but no embroidery decorated the walls. Morning’s light began to shine in through the wall of dirty windows and the warm light of the sun fell on Aurora. “Hurry up.” She ushered and walked from the room to join the others.

 

                                                                                                                              ………………………………… _._

 

     Aurora hadn't really thought about it much when she entered the building, but now she glanced around. Aurora could almost see her friends walking down the halls, laughing while training, even the times where she loosened up and inspired a crazy prank war. Then she came to the hall where they had been lead down to their deaths. Hunter stood in the hallway with her hood drawn over her head and down over her eyes. “Run!” Hunter said calmly but urgently. No one else could see the apparition, but Aurora took off running as fast as she could.

 

_What? I don't understand...Why don't I understand?! Who was that? It had my face... and my body... but it wasn't me. I let a part of myself go. Is that who it was? I don't want to be her again! I don't want to kill anymore, I've already caused so much death! I want to leave, I want to be away from her. But I have to keep them safe...all of them...so just leave me alone!_

 

     The others were left trying to locate her after rounding a corner and disappearing. Steve found her in the middle of what seemed to be an old training room. The very middle. Not on the floor or in the rafters, but hovering in the centre of the room. “She was just there mumbling to herself, I can't even understand half of what she says.” Steve lead them to the spot below where she was hovering.

     “Aurora, Can you come down?” Someone asked, but she wasn't paying attention to their words.

     “The scientific probability of being born human is the same likelihood that a sea turtle, which surfaces every year has when it puts its head through a 2-metre diameter ring that floats on the surface of the oceans of Earth. If that is the measure of a chance of my existence for being human then what could be the odds of a second existence with all the same genetic properties of myself? It's not impossible, but it is highly improbable and not to mention illogical. If there are two of something, and these two somethings are the exact same, are they not to be considered one? Simply because of a separation they cannot be considered two separate identities. Yet were two legs of a wasp severed from its body, then they would not be considered one. Even if they are biologically identical...” Aurora was staring at the wall the whole time unmoving.

     “You know, I hear that ants make up one-third of the biomass of all of the living creatures on Earth. You were almost born an ant.” Tony wandered underneath her perch. He didn't look up, but he could feel Aurora's gaze on his head.

     “I'm a biological and experimental improbability.” She said, narrowing her eyes.

     “Biological, yes. Experimental, not so much.” Tony answered, he looked up at her, she only stared down at him unmoving.

     “The probability of my survival during the experiments that I had undergone, were below ten percent. The only reason I survived was due to a sudden spike in energy tolerance that is held in equilibrium by the chips.” She lowered her perch slightly.

     “So the chips are what keep your body stable?” Tony frowned. _Why was it so much easier to talk to Aurora when she's like this?_ He wondered.

     “That is their main purpose. Should I acquire too much energy, however, stored within my body, the chips will cease to hold the equilibrium, and the same problems I had encountered during the experiments will commence.” She watched Tony unblinkingly.

     “The problems that were encountered during the experiments were the black fluid, weren't they? If you do not have one of these chips then the liquid will kill you? What is the liquid?” Bruce had stepped under the floating girl as well.

     She pulled the large and now darkly filled syringe from her pocket and handed it to Bruce, who looked it over in his hands with interest. “I do not know what the black fluid is, but I do know, however, that should it reach my heart, I will die.” Aurora was now just above eye level with the two men, she was staring into their eyes. “The only reason I remain in need of the chips is because the experiments are not complete.”

     Tony knitted his eyebrows in frustration. “Yes, they are.”

     Aurora blinked and smiled sweetly, “Liar.” she hopped down from her perch in the air, then walked away.

     The figure once again looked on from the shadows. “Interesting Indeed.”


	12. The Fire

      Aurora was helping Bruce in the lab one day with an experiment, “Okay hold this too.” Bruce held out another beaker of liquid to her. Aurora sighed and took this one too. “Now hand me the first one I gave you.” Bruce asked, not looking up from his work.

      “Here.” Aurora handed him the flask with the greenish contents.

      Bruce looked up to grab the flask and froze as he saw how she was 'holding' all the things he gave her. Multiple glass beakers were hovering in the air around her. “Aurora these things are important, so don't break anything.”

      “I won't.”

      Bruce only shook his head and continued to work. Aurora shifted feet. “Hey, um...” She paused looking at the ground with a frown on her face.

      Bruce turned his head and looked at her over his glasses. “What is it?”

      Aurora's eyes widened at his gaze. “Ah, nothing. Never mind, sorry Sir.” She shook her head frantically as she said her words but very abruptly stopped when she realized she had addressed him as Sir. She had called Victor that whenever they spoke and she often helped him in his laboratory in much the same fashion she was now. She also asked him plenty of questions for scientific information's sake but she always stopped herself from asking questions she already knew the answer to, even if they relentlessly filled her mind.

      Bruce was taken aback by her words and shifted somewhat uncomfortably by the lab bench. “Sir?” he managed to say through his confusion.

      “I...um.” She swallowed, eyes still wide.

      He sighed with a slight smile. “You can ask me anything if that is what you meant to do.”

      “I don't ask questions that I already know the answer to.” Aurora replied.

      “How can you be certain of the answer if you haven't asked the question?” Bruce frowned at his poor counter statement. Aurora tilted her head to the side. She could think of many ways but she respectfully uttered none of them.

      “I, well, just wanted to ask you... Do you trust me?” It felt like such an odd question to ask, she had already assumed that in the end, the answer would be 'no'. Yet Bruce chuckled and after a moment of weighing the question in his head, he spoke.

      “Yeah, I guess I do. Why?”

      “I... well I wasn't expecting that. But I... Thank you.” She could only smile in disbelief. “Then could I ask you one more thing?”

      “Anything.” Bruce said waiting for the next question.

      “How do you change into the Hulk? What triggers it?” Aurora's eyes explored his face for the answer.

      Bruce stumbled for a response. _Why would this come up?_ He wondered. “Um... well, spikes in emotion and large amounts of stress are the usual causes. Why?”

      “Just wondering, because I might be able to help you.” Aurora looked away from him.

      Bruce's eyes widened. “Wait! How? What do you mean?!” He gripped her arm tightly in his hand, he had completely forgotten about his work at the bench and was now focused fully on Aurora.

      She wasn't prepared for his grab at her arm and jumped backward, the beakers dropped slightly before they stopped in the air again. “It's just a theory.” She said quietly, a bit worried about Bruce.

      “Hey, guys...” Steve walked into the room, it still kind of unnerved him to see things just sitting in mid-air. “Fury wanted the team in the debriefing room, there's another mission.” Bruce was still holding Aurora's arm. “Dr. Banner?”

      He released her, looking around him somewhat lost and startled. “Yeah, sorry. We'll be right there.”

 

      The Avengers were again positioned around the table. “So got any more kids for us to find?” Clint said, receiving a glare.

      “No. Hydra is operating another base, you're going to shut it down.” Fury said.

      “Let's hope we don't find a room full of dead bodies again.” Tony said not really smiling like he would if it were another joke.

      “Will Aurora be coming?” Steve asked, currently Aurora was in the hall waiting for the Avengers to come out.

      “No. She is not a member of the team and she is not to be trusted. In fact, she should be in prison, she has killed people, probably more people than we know about.”

      “I think she could help us.” Bruce was normally quiet in these meetings.

      “Then take her if you want.” Fury shook his head, “but Avengers; she's your responsibility. If anything happens, that's on you.”

 

      “Aurora,” Steve said as they entered the hall, “Turns out you can come with us.”

      “Really, and like, save people?”

      “That's generally what heroes do.” Tony smirked.

      “I was thinking that you need some weapons now, we've seen you work hand to hand, but it's nice to have something extra.” Clint said.

      “I'm good with a staff.” Aurora said, “I used to have an extendable one, it had a blade on the end.” she thought back to the object fondly. She should have looked for it when they were at the HAF base, but she was too preoccupied with other things to go searching around too much.

      “That's good, and maybe we could get her a whip too.” Everyone turned to look at Tony. “I mean with her powers that-”

      “No, a whip would be good, with all the repurposable energy I harvest off of one crack. It's a good idea.” Aurora interjected.

      “I'll take you to the weaponry room and we'll see what we can find.” Natasha volunteered.

      “Good. We'll meet you in the hanger.” Clint said.

 

      Aurora searched the walls of weapons for anything of decent material quality and balance. They were less impressive weapons than what she was used to, but some were clearly not made by SHIELD. She settled for picking up a thin extendable staff and a dagger ended whip. But on the way out of the room a glint caught her eye, she wandered over with a dark smile and lifted the pair of Saber Claws from the rack. Aurora and Natasha met the others in the hanger. Aurora announced their return by crack the whip she got, it wasn't very good but it would serve its purpose. “Wow, sexy.” Clint whistled, getting glares from Natasha, Aurora, and Tony.

      “You know, I would love it if you didn't hit on my daughter and that goes for everyone.” Tony said giving Clint another glare and pressed down on his shoulder to emphasize his point.

      “It must feel strange saying that instead of hearing it.” Natasha muttered under her breath.

      “Ooh, a rule. You know, I feel a little rebellious now.” Aurora smirked, she looked over at Clint, “On the other hand, maybe not.”

      “Burn.” A young SHIELD agent said from the crates they were moving. The group of female agents giggled and fled from the room.

 

      They entered the building Hydra was reported to be in. There were minor fights here and there but nothing big. They were handing the Hydra men over to some of the armed agents to lock up when Tony suggested the team go get supper.

      Aurora was walking down the street with Steve after they finished eating and the team slowly broke off into smaller groups to explore the little city. "Why did you want to come with me?" Steve frowned.

      "Honestly, my new chip is already near its end, every so often I can feel when one wasn't built properly, maybe this one ended up with too much dust collected on it or maybe the materials themselves weren't up to standard. Either way, I figured you were least likely to attract trouble." Aurora shrugged. 

      "Is it dangerous?" Steve frowned, his concern showing through. 

      "I can keep energy use low until we get back to the helicarrier," Aurora smiled to reassure him, "I've lasted days with one of these, a few hours won't be harmful." 

      "As long as you're sure." Steve conceded as they rounded a corner. They could see smoke rising from a residence nearby and hear the hollering of sirens become louder and closer, though they were still a ways off. The two rushed forward and upon reaching the burning home they heard the screams from inside. Aurora, without thinking, went through the front door into the burning house. The door behind her exploded in a red heat, blocking Steve from following her. He began to look for another way in.

      Aurora listened closely thought the roar of the fire, the screams were coming from above her on the second floor. Frantically looking around she located the stairs through the thick smoke that was beginning to etch its way into her lungs, she covered her nose and mouth in a poor defence and ran up the stairs, still following the yelling of children. She got to an upstairs room where two young kids, a girl who looked eight and a boy about five, were in the corner. She quickly grabbed the boy and placed him on her hip and took the girl by the hand. “I want my mommy!” The boy wailed.

      “Shh it's okay, you're both going to be fine. I promise.” Aurora said, pulling the young girl closely behind her and into the hall. They glancing down the stairs which were now way too burnt to go down. They looked as if they could collapse by simply looking at them to forcefully. “Are there other stairs?”

      The girl sniffed and nodded, “Over there.” she pointed through a door that was farther down the hallway, luckily the flames had not reached that far yet.

      Aurora lead them through the smoky room to a set of back stairs. The stairs led them to what could be seen as the living area of the house. Flames licked up the coffee table legs and crawled across the floor towards them. Aurora pushed the girl towards the glass door that led to a back yard. It was fenced in with high wooden walls. Aurora coughed having inhaled a lot of smoke, she took them away from the house but there was no way to get out of the yard. She put the boy down beside his sister. “Miss, are you okay?" the girl asked, Aurora had been bent over coughing, turns out she had inhaled more smoke than she thought.

      “Yeah, I just breathed in some smoke.” She said breathlessly. “There's no gate maybe you should call out for help so they no we're out.” she coughed.

      The kids immediately started by yelling out, “Help!” “We're here.” “Mommy!” Aurora sat down and watched the kids call out.

      She didn't notice her eyes closing until she felt herself being pick up and carried. She coughed again, and there was something placed over her face. She tried to bat it away but it was placed firmly over her nose and mouth. She sighed and breathed in the fresh air, her mind was in a daze trying to figure out how she got air at all with a mask over her face. Her head starting to clear and she looked up at the person above her. It was Steve, she gave him a confused looked, he removed the thing from her face, he likely had jumped over the fence when he heard the children. “The kids, where are they?”

      “Safe.” Steve said, “How are you? You inhaled in a lot of smoke.”

      “I'm fine.” She looked over at the still burning house and stood with a little help from Steve. She looked around at the busy scene. She was in the front yard at the edge of the street, firemen were rushing around and began to spray water onto the building. She wanted to help more, she could just put out the flames herself, but her faulty chip wouldn't be able to withstand the energy flow. She decided the fire crews around her would have to be good enough.

      “Miss. Miss!” The girl that Aurora had saved ran up to her, her soft skin was blotched with some dust, but she smiled brightly. “I want to thank you for saving me and my brother.”

      “You’re very welcome.” Aurora was stunned she had been a hero, maybe now that she thought about it that she had been stupid, running into a burning building with her abilities so limited. She could have brought Steve, or at least warned him of her spontaneous plan and worked with him, but she still saved them.

      “Aurora!” The rest of the Avengers had shown up, Steve likely called them when she was unconscious. “Are you okay? Steve called us, he said you went into a burning house.” Tony rushed to say.

      “Yeah, not the brightest idea I've had.” Aurora coughed again, “Ok, sitting down before falling down.” Aurora sank to the pavement again where Steve put the mask over her face, she took it from his hand so he didn't need to crouch beside her.

      “You shouldn't run into burning buildings.” Tony scolded, Aurora rolled her eyes.

      “Miss,” A women and a man approached them. “I would like to thank you for saving my kids.”

      “It wasn't a problem, but, you’re welcome.” Aurora removed the mask to speak.

      “My name is Kari Snell and this is my husband Rickey Snell,” the women said, gesturing to the man beside her. “May we know your name?”

      “Aurora.” She said with a smile.

      “Well, thank you again for saving Bailey and Nick.” The mother was almost in tears as her husband pulled her away.

      “So, you're a hero.” Clint smirked. “Congrats.”

      “Thanks.”


	13. The Stranger

     Aurora walked into the lab one morning to see Tony pulling up a picture of a woman on his computer. The woman was in her late twenties, she was an attractive blonde with blue eyes and a mischievous smile. Aurora sighed from over Tony’s shoulder. “I guess I should have seen this coming. That one I believe was in the summer of 2008.” She crossed her arms and shrugged slightly. She remembered the file Victor had given her, it had no name written in it, only a photo, a work schedule and a location where the mystery woman frequented.  
     “What? No. this is Tiffany Wells. She’s your mother.” Tony said, turning towards her with a frown. “The one I mentioned back in the med bay.”  
     “What?” Aurora stood looking at the picture again. “That’s Tiffany Wells?”  
     “Yes. What were you talking about? 2008?”  
     “Victor gave me a detail, she was working for an agency that was against HAF, she was one of my first solo targets.” Aurora took in the photo on the large monitor. She felt like she could see some resemblance in her own face. “I was sent to kill her. I killed my own mother.” A small look of horror crossed her features.  
     “You had no way of knowing.” Tony leant back in his chair and placed a hand on her back.  
     She looked over to him and scoffed in disgust at what she had been asked to do. _Victor knew, so what was he trying to prove? Was it a test? Or was I just the_ most able _? Why send me? Her eyes only blurred and faded black._  
                                                                                   ….............................................

  _“I don't want her.” A harsh female voice said. Aurora felt herself being pushed forwards and away from the woman behind her._  
_“You don't care what happens to her?” Victor asked. She had to look up at him, he looked so much younger, fewer stress lines marked his face._  
_“No.”_  
_Aurora turned around to look at her, but Tiffany's cold eyes never looked to her four-year-old child._  
_“Mommy, I don’t want to go!” Aurora shouted, tears beginning to enter her eyes as she slowly understood that her mother was leaving her with this stranger._  
_“What's her name?” Victor grabbed Aurora’s tiny wrist in his tight grip when she went_ to run _back to Tiffany._  
_“Kid, Child, You. I never gave her one.” Tiffany turned and left her wailing daughter behind. “I don’t want her.”_  
_“Mommy!”_  
                                                                                    ….............................................

     “Aurora? Did you have a vision?” Tony was holding her up and looking at her face, worried.  
     “Yeah.” Aurora’s eyes turned emotionless and uncaring.  
     “Was it about Tiffany?”  
     “Let just say I'm not sorry that I killed the bitch.” Aurora straightened up and left the lab, finding new hatred for her supposed 'mother'. Tony only watched her back as the door closed behind her, and sank back into his chair to look at the picture again. He closed it with a huff.

     She found herself alone in the training room, she had changed her clothes to something lighter than her typical leather shirt, but decided to keep her dark cargo pants. Aurora was annoyed with herself; years of fight training and the moment an emotion sneaks into her head she no longer understands how to deal with it. She missed the past and how pure it felt. Black and white, follow orders, don't make a mess and don't make the prey suffer. Now grey and emotion have slipped into her life, the lies suddenly began to pile up in front of her from where they used to be above her head. Years of lies and untold truths tore at the inside of Aurora's head.  
     She kicked at the punching bag. “So let me get everything straight,” she spoke aloud to herself. “My mother never wanted me.” the bag received a punch, “She didn't care,” a kick, “I was taken and experimented on by a man that I looked up to like a father,” another punch, “My real father didn't know I existed,” Her attacks were growing steadily stronger. “My friends were killed in front of me, because of one little mistake I made,” another hit, “and I was left in a room with their dead bodies to die.” Another strike, “I don't even know why I'm still here.” She stopped her assault but still wasn't panting for air. She looked up into the rafters and sighed. “Why am I still here?” Aurora just wanted answers, the real answers, the truth. Sure she had her own things that she wouldn't tell the Avengers, but they didn't involve them.  
     Aurora stretched her arms out to loosen her muscles some more and then tore a strip from the fabric at the bottom of her black tank top shirt, she it around her head to cover her eyes. Despite the frigid temperature of the training room, Aurora's exposed stomach was not cold. She made sure she was fully blind and could not see even if she opened her eyes beneath the cloth, though she kept them shut anyway. Aurora sent out a strong pulse of electrons in every direction, they collided with the objects in the room and she waited until she could sense the energy in the environment change, getting a pretty clear picture in her head as to the location and the material of each immediate object.  
     Aurora reached out to the wall on her right side and allowed her hand to drag along it as she walked forwards towards one of the other punching bags. She turned towards her new target and instead of hitting it, she leapt up onto it and gripped the chain that connected it to the ceiling. From there she began to climb back into the cross beams above the ground that had become so familiar to her. She often just sat up here, watching the unsuspecting people enter and go about their exercise, unaware of the assassin lurking above them. It would be too easy just to wait for a target to enter the room and silently take them out, nobody checks the ceiling in a place they trust. But she knew she always checked, she never trusted anywhere. Victor taught her to understand the environment and Greg taught her to never feel comfortable enough there to drop her guard. It made it impossible to consider anything a home, but lately, she found herself not looking around as often as she used to.  
     She was kneeling on the narrow metal beam as she sent out another pulse, getting a new perspective of her environment. There was another beam three meters away to her left which was mirrored on her right. Turning left back towards the centre of the empty room, she stood, pushed off and leapt across the large gap. Aurora caught the beam’s edge and effortlessly pulled herself up onto it and ran to where she knew yet another one lay across a shorter gap. She landed into a roll and spun around to return in the direction she had come. An easy exercise, but being blindfolded and trying to balance on the thinner and dustier beams made turning and landing a slipping hazard.  
     She leapt for the bar she had previously been on and, to her sudden irritation, it simply wasn't there, none the less she allowed her body to fall to the floor and into another roll, escaping any injury more severe than a few bruises and scrapes. She ripped the blindfold off to look up at the bar that had reappeared since her landing.  
     “Yeah, that’s not usually a thing that happens. Noted.” She grumbled to herself, now knowing that such a thing is something to be aware of. But she wanted more, she wanted to know the reason behind the disappearing beam.  
     “An impressive landing. I must admit, that is a lot for one so young, my dear.” A shadowed man stepped into the light before Aurora. He was new and he wasn’t there earlier, she was certain.  
     “What is?” She looked at him, avoiding giving away information that he might not already know. She eyed him to figure out as much as she could about him from a glance. His clothing was much like Thor's she found, but less flashy. Green, gold and black were the only colours visible on his clothes. He was tall, shorter than Thor, but not by much, and his eyes were a strong shade of green-blue, this, she noticed quickly.  
     “Everything, I overheard you.” The dark haired man said with a smile. It was brief and its purpose seemed only to bring a sense of security to her. It did not however, for she could see through it. _So he was there all along._  
     Aurora nodded, her expression and eyes blank, but she was irritated with herself for not having noticed him earlier. “Right, you've been here for a while then I see.” She stared into his eyes with a challenge, hoping he would accept. There was no better way to test someone's mental capability than to offer them a silent challenge, she found. He acknowledged it by returning with an intense gaze.   Aurora almost grinned, he evidently did not like to lose or be pushed aside.  
     “Yes, a while.” His voice was almost a whisper but his eyes stayed affixed on hers, not backing down from Aurora's little test.  
     “Who are you? You don't work for SHIELD, do you?” She already knew he didn’t, but she wanted to know if he would lie.  
     “No, I do not, I am Loki.” The man told her.  
     She narrowed her eyes slightly. “Who?” Aurora was lost about who he was, but he spoke like he thought she would know him. She decided to end the game and looked away over at the wall with an expression of boredom, she had found out what she wanted to know about his personality during a confrontation, now she wanted to know how he handled winning.  
     Loki grinned. Aurora mentally analyzed this as evidence for a superiority complex. “My supposed brother never told you about me? What a shame, what other secrets are they keeping from you, I wonder?” He eyed her with interest.  
     “I'll guess your brother is Thor, just from the way you dress.” Aurora looked at his long leather coat that served as light armour. She was much the same, leather acted like a thick skin above your own, one to protect you from knife slashes and cuts. Anything metal she thought would only be for war, her mind went to Thor's armoured breastplate. “You also prefer not to involve yourself in heavy combat like him either, lest you would not wear leather. And by just looking at the way you stand and where, you, also unlike your brother, analyze the full situation around you in more than one aspect; enemy numbers. What are your odds of success with pure strength and no brains?” She couldn't help but study him, something about him fascinated her. She grinned, cocking her head to the side slightly. “You're clever if I had to call you something.”  
     Loki was impressed, but he found that he hadn't moved during her inspection of him. “Very smart. You'd do well if they let you, instead of shielding you away, not allowing for you to use your skills.” He began to circle her.  
     “I'm walking time bomb.” She smirked as she circled him in return.  
     “Really now? I could see the green monster being one, but you?” Loki wanted to see how she could handle his own mind game, this girl seemed different from the others.  
     “You truly have no idea what I can do.” Aurora liked the new game he was playing with her. Loki hummed in response, looking down at her as if she were a child, she embraced it instead of rejecting it. “You don't believe me?” She said, giving him a small and pretend stunned expression. She couldn't help but mock him to test his pressure points, how far would she have to push him out of superiority before he snapped?  
     “Actually I do, I've been watching you for quite a long time now. More than just this one time.” Loki said, seemingly unaffected by her tone. He was good; she liked it.  
     “Intriguing.” Aurora grinned. “You don't act like Thor's brother, however. Too many differences, the words in your eyes speak disobediently for you. Are you sure he's your brother?” Aurora could play mind games like his too, and this man was too interesting to her not to return them equally. Loki paused, it was only for a brief second, but Aurora caught it. _Caught off guard. So either he's worried his eyes are giving away his thoughts or I was right. Besides, the way he failed to move when I compared him to Thor hinted that they have some kind of rivalry…_ “And even if you’ve been watching me since I came here, you have only just seen the surface of my abilities.”  
     He smirked darkly and opened his mouth to respond when a sound came in the direction of the exit, breaking the moment. They both turned to the door where two people were standing just outside.  
     The tall man hummed in annoyance and walked over to her to gently whisper in her ear. “I'd advise you to keep our little chat a secret, my dear.” His voice was a deep purr.  
     “Another secret won’t be a problem.” Aurora responded equally. With a quick grin, Loki vanished instantly from sight. Aurora took a swipe of the air he had just occupied only to find her hand passed unhindered through the space.  
     “Interesting.” She grinned. The door opened to reveal Thor, she could see that a female agent had been his companion outside the door. The woman left down the hall as Thor entered.  
     “Ah! Maiden Aurora, here you are, your father is looking for you.” Thor told her. He frowned, “My Lady, was someone in here with you? I sense magic was used.”  
     Aurora tilted her head to the side, “Just me.” she said with a little smile, she didn't know exactly why she lied, but she felt that if she mentioned it, she may never get to see the other man again, and he was too intriguing for her not to. What was one more lie on her plate to swallow her up? “I was trying a new trick, maybe it has a magic feeling to it. I wouldn't think too much of it though, it’s simply science.” She breathed a laugh. “Science not even Tony or Bruce seem to understand.” Aurora walked out of the room past him and grinned when Thor couldn't see her. She continued down the hall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alternative title for this chapter was: The Wild Loki Appear


	14. The Race

     As Aurora walked down the hall she wondered what Tony would talk to her about. While she considered the options she hoped above all else it didn’t involve Tiffany. Aurora entered the lab and watched for a moment as Tony hovered over the one faulty chip. She had removed it the moment she and the group had returned to the helicarrier after the incident with the burning house, not knowing how much damage it may cause her body if left in much longer. He didn’t notice her enter and continued to fuss with the few tiny wires and connectors inside the metal encased chip. They seemed to rely more on physical hardware rather than data and programming.  
     “What are you doing?” Aurora frowned, looking at the ruined chip Tony had dismantled.  
     Tony jumped, spun around and looked up at her, the magnifying glasses he wore gave him the appearance of a mad scientist. “I’m trying to figure out how to build one of these, Steve told me one of them was faulty. This one.” He gestured down at the chip and the mess he created as he took off the glasses.  
     “You don’t have to open one up to figure out how to build it, I already know.” Aurora sighed and walked over to the lab bench. She began to shuffle, stack and move the multitudes of papers and instruments, as well as the random odds and ends that covered the entire work area. “Besides, you can’t learn much from one that doesn’t work right. You’ll just end up learning about how to make a lot of useless ones.”  
     “Alright. Will you show me? I want to know for when I need to make more.” Tony watched as she picked up the chip he had not too carefully taken apart. “Because as you said ‘It happened a lot.’ and that sounds like it means you need more than the 7 spares you have now.”  
     “Well, that depends on how much platinum, gold and silver you have.” Aurora looked up from the chip, she had been trying to gauge if she was able to fix the damage done, both by Tony and by whatever it was that made it faulty in the first place.  
     “I think we might have a bit of those here…” Tony trailed off rummaging around the lab, opening various compartments, drawers and cupboards. Aurora shook her head and turned her attention back to the chip before her. Deciding to at least try to fix it, she placed it back down and strode towards the tools that lay on the far counter. Picking up a pair of forceps she nodded, deeming them good enough to work with. She spared a glance back at Tony who was now muttering as he opened tiny drawers of varying materials, she sat in the nearest chair and rolled it back over to her workstation.  
     “Sir, precious metals are located on the upper shelf of Case 57B.” JARVIS said into the room.  
     Tony paused and took a moment to remember exactly where Case 57B was located, as he was far less accustomed to the helicarrier’s lab than his own. However it still only took a moment before he found the case. Tony cheered as he saw the metals she had asked for lined up and labelled before him, looking over to her he watched as she seemingly ignored him and pieced together the chip once more. He stuffed the required metal samples in his hand and came closer to watch as she carefully moved the wires about to access the connectors that sat behind.  
     “It can take hours to make one correctly.” Aurora said quietly before smirking to herself, “If you’re not me that is. I always wondered why Victor didn’t just ask Sara to make a machine to do it for him, but in the end, the chips themselves were far too sensitive to any energy that surrounded them that human labour was the best and safest solution. Even if some of the chips became faulty, it was better than all of them being weaker.”  
     “So you’re manipulating the material to make it easier to work with, but that isn’t causing some weakening?” Tony asked, most of the little wires seemed to be back in place again.  
     “Not if it’s done right.” Aurora gestured her head over to the metals in Tony’s hand. “Now the material you have there isn’t really much when you consider what we need to do with it, but I’ll walk you through it. With any luck, after a very long time, we may get a workable chip.” Aurora smiled before taking the metals from him and continuing to explain in detail how to create the most important thing that kept her alive.

                                                                           ……………………………….

     Aurora looked up to the vibrating phone on the counter, it was the fifth time it went off and if Tony didn’t answer it soon she was going to have to destroy it. The chips were delicate and the phone was throwing new energy in the air which in turn was distracting her.  
     “Tony. Your phone.” She murmured after the sixth time.  
     “Huh? Oh, right right.” Tony muttered, dropping the forceps he was using and finally looked at his phone, “It’s a reminder from JARVIS. We missed dinner, and it’s almost 4 in the morning.” Tony informed her. “We should get a bite to eat.”  
     “Don’t you live off coffee?” Aurora raised an eyebrow at him as she flexed her stiff fingers.  
     “I can, but you can’t.” The look she gave him quickly changed his mind. “I rather you not.”  
     “You do realize the food here is in no way beneficial to the agents aboard.” Aurora leant back over her work, fully intending to forgo the meal.  
     Tony just watched her for a moment before speaking, “Have you ever had Shawarma?” he asked, a grin started to spread across his face as she frowned and shook her head. “I know the perfect place.” He jumped up from his seat and waved for her to follow him. “I would normally take my suit, but since you are coming with me this time, we’ll have to borrow a Quinjet.”  
     Aurora sighed and slowly rose from her chair, Tony was already at the door and waiting for her to follow him through it to the hallway beyond.  
     “Oh right, the red tin can you supposedly fly around and do _amazing_ things in.” She chuckled adding air quotes to the word ‘amazing’.  
     “Hey! I am Ironman, and it is amazing.” Tony defended his suit and walked beside her down the corridor.  
     “It didn’t look so amazing when I drained it and left you stuck in a room.” Aurora reminded him.  
     “You know what, I’ll get it right now and then I’ll show you how  _amazing_ it really is. Meet in the hanger in five.” Tony said, racing off and back down the hall to get his suit.  
     Aurora just shook her head and continued towards the hanger. Glancing around she found it odd not even a night watch was left to keep an eye on things. She wandered around for a moment, looking at the available aircrafts to choose from and finally settled on one that looked fairly new but not without a few scratches along the body.  
     “There you are,” Tony’s voice said. It was muffled by the metal face plate. Aurora turned and looked over the suit before shrugging at him, unimpressed with the machine in front of her. “Stop that. This is amazing, trust me.”  
     “If you say so, but I doubt it can out-fly this.” Aurora pointed over her shoulder at the chosen Quinjet.  
     “Oh yeah? We are totally racing now.” Aurora could hear the smirk on his face and she wore one of her own as she climbed into the Quinjet.  
     “Are the radio’s up?” Aurora asked as she flicked switches on the control panel. Lights, sensors and scanners sprang to life with beeps and hums.  
     “Well if they aren’t, then I’m hearing voices.” Tony confirmed as she started to move the craft to the runway, clearly she had experience with flying aircrafts. Something he was very glad for and should have asked about before challenging her to a race into a city.  
     “I always knew there was something wrong with you. Now, try to keep up, old man.” Aurora said with a mischievous grin before pushing the Quinjet to suddenly take off. Tony rushed after the jet, determined not to lose and to prove to her how the Ironman suit was beyond great.  
     Aurora’s jet shot through the air over the water, and though she wasn’t using the full speed of the aircraft yet, she had an idea that Tony wasn’t either. He was keeping pace with her surprisingly easy. It was time to step up the game.  
With a quick look over to Tony, she sent the craft into a slow barrel roll and remained flying upside down, which she found took a bit of effort to keep as the jet tried to right itself.  
     Tony looked over at the spinning jet to his right and laughed when it stayed upside down. “You’re in a large plane against a small suit made for manoeuvrability. Are you sure this is a challenge you want to make?” He sounded very confident.  
     “The confidence in your voice right now will make my victory all the more sweet. But still, may the better tin can win.” Aurora allowed the aircraft to right itself before pushing the throttle to full, where it took off ahead of Ironman.  
     Her lead only lasted a moment before Tony caught up with her again and began to do vertical circles around her jet. Aurora watched in amusement and genuine surprise at the smoothness and speed of the little suit as he rolled above her to her side, then below her to the other side with ease. With a smirk, she barrel rolled the plane once again in the opposite direction of him which made him need to dodge the two wings that came close to batting him off course.  
     “Well, that was rude,” Tony commented to her with a smile. “Still, I could make several phone calls and do some data analysis and still have no problem keeping up with you.”  
     The city was beginning to come into view and Aurora realized she had to let up on the speed and let Tony pass her to stay just in front of the nose of the jet since she had absolutely no idea where she was supposed to be going. She knew she couldn’t win if she didn’t know where the finish line was, which, this time was alright. _I guess I could let him win this once, provided he doesn’t gloat too much._  
     “You’re the one flying so close to a spinning thing with wings.” Aurora pointed out as she slowed further, Tony fell back as well but still kept himself ahead of her.  
     “So, I win. I’m amazing. Now you have proof.” Tony congratulated himself as they entered the edge of the city at an acceptable speed.  
     “I let you win because you’re the one who knows where the food is. You only won by default.” She laughed at his annoyed sounds that came through the comm.  
     “Just embrace the awesome, it’ll make it easier on you. But food is over here.” Tony banked west and lead them to a calmer section of the decently sized city.  
     “So… I just park... in the parking lot...?” Aurora said, unsure if this was the right thing to do.  
     “Where else are you going to park?” Tony snorted and rolled his eyes.  
     “Tony, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but it’s a Quinjet, not a minivan.” She muttered, carefully landing in the corner of the paved area behind the building, thankful that Quinjets can do vertical landings.  
     “See? Just like parking a car.” Tony boarded the plane letting his suit open so he could step out. “Now, Shawarma!” Tony pulled her along to the small restaurant. The staff were already waiting for the two guests and had a table ready with food in front of them the moment they sat down. Aurora learned Tony had in fact made one of the several calls he spoke of during their race and called ahead to make arrangements for the two.  
     “Thanks, Tony.” Aurora smiled up at him, her facial features, which normally have some degree of tension, were soft and relaxed. For once she actually looked her age and not older. She looked happy.  
     Words at this point seemed to fail him as the gravity of this moment hit him. He was having a meal with his daughter, his family. “I.. I didn’t do anything.” He whispered, feeling like he should be doing more, this was his daughter and he had missed so much with her. He didn’t know how to even be a father, being that guy working in the lab with her was so much easier.  
     “You did this. And I know this all probably comes second nature to you with all your meetings and such, but I’ve never had anyone who actually cared enough…” She trailed off looking down at her food that she had only just begun to eat.  
     “Ah, well, you’re welcome…” Tony said, looking at his own meal. The two ate in silence, both too aware of the fact neither knew how to proceed in any conversation. Both normally kept a safe distance from emotions like this.  
     “I’m calling it.” Aurora said suddenly, “Failed beta test. Restoring to the last point of success. Which, I believe, would be when we arrived. Agreed?” She smiled as she related their father-daughter relationship to a failed computer program that needed to be reset to an earlier version.  
     Tony laughed, “Agreed. Are you almost done? I bet the others are wondering where we went.”  
     “All done here.” Aurora nodded and stood to wait for Tony to pay. Tony decided it was his turn to fly the Quinjet on the way back and Aurora settled herself in the back to inspect his suit, offering him many suggestions to make it better, Tony only huffed, shaking his head.  
     “You know it does currently work, right? You saw all those tricks I did, I won the race.” Tony said after the 50th comment she made.  
     “I know, but my tips will improve it.” Aurora shrugged, coming up to the front of the plane and taking the co-pilot seat.  
     “Coulson to Quinjet A37.” The pair both looked at the radio, startled by the sudden voice. “Quinjet A37 come in.”  
     Tony shrugged, “We’re almost back, don’t bother.”  
     Aurora glanced at the radio, hiding her nervousness, “Stark! We know you can hear us.” Coulson said annoyed.  
     Aurora flicked the switch to answer, “It’s Aurora, Coulson, I’m heading back now, my ETA is 2 minutes.”  
     An audible sigh was heard from the other end, “Aurora… just get back here, Coulson out.”  
     “Yes, Sir.” Aurora said quietly, “Quinjet A37 out.”  
     “Hey, why didn’t you tell them it was both of us?” Tony frowned.  
     “You took your suit out and you are now bringing the jet back.” Aurora shrugged, “As far as SHIELD is concerned, you had to come and retrieve me. No need for both of us to get in trouble.”  
     “I’m not letting you go down for my idea.” Tony insisted as he geared the craft for the landing.  
     “Like I said; no need for both of us to get in trouble. Besides, I’m used to it.” Aurora gave him a faint smile. She heard Tony muttering something but ignored it and stood ready so she could leave the Quinjet as soon as they landed.  
     Fury and Coulson were both waiting on the tarmac and Aurora was quick to stand in front of them. Tony was trying to catch her before she said anything but was still 50 yards away when she began speaking. “I apologize for taking the Quinjet without permission Sir, however, Mr. Stark brought the A37 back with no damage.”  
     “Fury it was my-” Tony began, finally reaching the little assembly.  
     “Quiet Stark.” Fury said, making Tony stop in his tracks. “Aurora, you are not permitted on the tarmac without supervision for the next month. Further, you will be on temporary probation for the same time. If another incident like this happens you may very well find your freedom very restricted.” Fury paused looking down at her, “Do you understand?”  
     “Yes, Sir.” Aurora nodded and stood waiting for the next part of the punishment. Fury instead nodded, turned and left with Coulson following him closely.  
     “Dammit. I’m sorry he was so rough on you.” Tony said, placing his hand on her shoulder.  
     “Rough?” Aurora frowned, “When is the rest of it?”  
     “You want to be yelled at more?” Tony raised an eyebrow.  
     “Well no but...” Aurora frowned, shaking her head, “I shouldn’t be out here, let’s go inside.”


	15. The Other Part of the Punishment

      A couple days had passed with Aurora keeping a low profile, determined not to cross any lines. She still was waiting for the other part of her punishment to come about.  She entered into a small rec room the Avengers sometimes gathered in for ‘team time’ as Clint called it, currently, only Steve was here.

      “Hey Aurora, I haven’t seen much of you.” He commented. He was sitting on one of the lounge sofas as he scrolled through his tablet.

      “Trying to keep under the radar, I don’t want to get into more trouble.”  Aurora shrugged, watching as Steve poked the screen.

      “Tony told me about you being on probation. Don’t worry, Fury isn’t that angry with you.” Steve looked up from the screen and smiled.

      “I guess not, but I did steal a jet.”  Aurora shrugged and gently sat on the arm of the sofa beside him, “I was expecting... more, I suppose.”

      “Well, you were raised more in a military style weren’t you?” Steve asked.

      “Something like that...” Aurora chuckled.

      “I got in trouble after I ran out to save my best friend, Bucky. They don’t tell you that part in the history books.” Steve smirked.

      “No, they don’t. They leave a lot out.” Aurora nodded. She had read up on Steve, she watched all the 'promotional videos' and read everything she could find on him. Something she had done for all the people she was now on the helicarrier with, some of them had more material than others.

      Steve’s tablet chimed, “Why does it do that?”

      “You got a notification.” Aurora moved to look at the screen, “Yeah it’s an email.”

      “Oh… how do I check the mailbox?” Steve asked frowning at the screen.

      She scooted closer to him so she could get a better look at what needed to be done. “First you swipe down to check notifications, then, you can either tap this and it will take you to this email or go to your home screen by pressing this and then this gets you to your mailbox or your inbox.” Aurora explained, letting Steve do the actual work by touching the screen. “When the box here is white it means you haven’t read it yet, the dark ones mean you’ve read it.”

      “Thanks, Tony normally scoffs at me.” Steve opened the email.

      Aurora leant back to give him privacy as he looked through the message, “I know what it’s like not understanding technology.”

      “Really? You?” Steve asked surprised.

      Aurora looked down and cleared her throat, “Yeah, my uh, friend was alway inventing new things while I was training,” she explained, “She told me about everything she built and how to use them. She was always so happy and so proud of everything she made...” She was fidgeting with her fingers, picking at a loose thread that sprouted from her jeans as she spoke.

      Steve nodded and understood it was probably Tech that Aurora was talking about, “My friend I saved… I had to leave him behind on the way back from another mission, he, Bucky, fell off a train...” Steve swallowed just thinking about it.

      “Sara, she was my friend.” Aurora said quietly.

      A moment of silence filled the room before Steve’s eyes flickered back to the screen in front of him, “I have a mission debriefing.” He stood slowly, “I know you can’t go on missions, but would you like to come and help with the planning? I could aways use an experienced mind."

 

                                                                                                ………………… **..........**

 

      When they entered the room Fury raising an eyebrow at the pair, “I want her opinion, she went under SHIELD's radar for years, you don’t do that by mistake.” Steve said, sitting down with the usual assembled group.

      Aurora sat between Tony and Steve waiting for the Director to start. Files were passed around as he spoke to the team. He showed images of what they knew of the building, luckily, some of the outer recon was already done for the team. “I’ll let you all prepare, the attack will be in 3 days.

      “Tony, can you pull up the hologram of the building layout?” Steve asked, standing to lean over the table. Tony quickly pulled up the blue hologram. Parts were missing since no SHIELD member had actually entered as of yet and the blueprints they did have were over a decade old.  “We should enter from here and here” Steve pointed to two entry points on the hologram of the warehouse.

      “Do you truly want my opinion?” Aurora asked, her eyes scanning and memorizing the building layout with trained skill.

      “Of course.” Steve nodded.

      “Only take that entrance if you are sure the building is empty.” Aurora said, “We don't know if this building is occupied, if it is you'd be dead in about 1 minute. There are better entry points than this, for example here and here.” she pointed out two other spots that made Clint and Natasha glance at each other, normally no one questioned Steve’s plans.

      “That's too small, and this one means we would be exposed when entering.” Steve frowned. Tony tried to hide a smirk from his obvious amusement, he glanced at Bruce who was leaning away from the table as if he could escape.

      “Obviously Clint and Natasha would enter here. And if you yourself are any good at stealth you and Tony would have no problem. Thor and Bruce would be good for backup, at which point they can enter here.”  Aurora stood firm. Thor looked at the others in the room, trying to figure out who was winning or who the others were siding with, but it seemed no one had picked sides.

      “I was a soldier in the army, I know a thing or two about entering buildings like this.” Steve said looking back at the map somewhat annoyed.

      “Yes I know, you're the super solider, but you have no actual military training, in fact, until Abraham Erskine gave you a chance you were 4F.” Aurora pointed out.

      Steve was a little taken aback by her information. “Yes I was but then I got the serum and I did receive som-”

      “You willingly let them do that to you?” Aurora stood still as Steve answered.

      “Yes I did.”

      Aurora nodded, “You were right, there is a lot they leave out of the textbooks.”

      “I don’t see how that plays into effect here.”  Steve frowned.

      “You _let_ them experiment on you, I didn’t realize.” Aurora said softly, “I didn’t get a choice, they made me what they wanted me to be. I wish I had the choice you did. The moment my own _mother_ knew about me she hated me, she didn’t even name me, she just tossed me to Victor and left.” The room was silent upon hearing this information. “I just assumed if you were an experiment, you didn’t have a choice in the matter.”

      Steve stared at her, shocked by her words, “I'm sorry,” his look turned to that of pity.

      “No need, it’s not your fault you were given a choice that so many others were denied.” Aurora whispered and turned away, leaving the room silently.

      “Damn.” Everyone looked at a distraught Tony, “Tiffany didn't even name her. Why doesn't she tell me this stuff?”

 

                                                                                         ………...............................

 

      When it came time for the team to leave days later, Aurora waited with Coulson and listened to the radios. It had been unclear if Steve had changed his mind about the entry points or if he was sticking with his initial plan. Aurora had again sunk into the shadows in the days leading up to this one and it was starting to unnerve some agents, as they wouldn’t realize she was even there until they were told afterwards. However, Aurora listened as Steve directed the others to take the entry points she had suggested and he headed for the one he had originally wanted. Aurora bit her lip, sitting behind the lines was not what was she was used to, now she realized how much of a punishment this was for her.

      “Everyone in position?”  Steve's voice came across the feed.

      Coulson glanced at Aurora as the team each confirmed their positions. “They have done this before, you have nothing to worry about.” He offered.

      “I hope you're right.” Aurora nodded.

      A pained sound was heard over the coms, snapping attention back to the speaker, “Guys! I need back up!” Steve shouted.

      Aurora clenched her teeth, she knew it. If this would have been her team, Victor wouldn’t have benched her and he would’ve told the others to get in line and follow her without being questioned. “I can’t listen to this.” Aurora said standing and heading for her room.

 

      Once back in her quarters Aurora found a box on her bed that wasn’t there when she had last entered the room. Frowning, she opened the small box and quickly closed it again when she saw the contents. She put in on the floor and slide it under her bed, not prepared to deal with what was in it just yet, not when her mind was distracted by the thought of the Avengers out at this moment, in a fight, without her. She sighed and laid on the bed with her eyes closed, waiting for the team to return.

      Several hours passed until Aurora felt the ship dip ever so slightly, she was out the door of her room and down the hall before the announcement for the medical team was made. She remembered at the last second that she wasn’t allowed on the tarmac and gripped the edge of the outer door to stop herself from falling through it. Aurora could see the quinjet opening and Clint and Natasha both stumbled out with their clothing torn and a few cuts bleeding quite freely. Bruce stumbled out next, his shirt was gone and only some dirt seemed to be covering his skin. Thor was helping Tony limp out of the jet with his suit in pieces. Steve was in the worst shape of the group, having to have two medical personnel help him out of the aircraft. Aurora waited at the huge door for the medical team to bring the Avengers back inside. Director Fury stopped beside her and raised an eyebrow as he saw Aurora gripping the side of the wide doorway, almost leaning out and fighting the urge to run through it. However, her feet remained carefully behind the line where the tarmac met the tiled floor inside.  

      “We need people out there helping bring them in, what are you waiting for?”  He spoke. She jerked back inside of the carrier door before realizing she had gotten permission to enter the landing area. She darted out, helping a medic to get Tony onto a stretcher. She would have helped with Steve but he was following instructions and Tony naturally wasn’t.

      “Hey kid.” Tony smiled weakly, “I thought you weren’t allowed out here.”

      “Shh, Fury gave me permission, and they need to take off the rest of your suit.” She pushed him back onto the stretcher to lay down. The medic nodded to her in thanks as she helped get Tony inside and to the medical wing. Once there she was pushed to the side as they started patching him up, looking around she realized there was nothing she could do.  The medics were fussing over the wounds and were better trained than she was to handle the injuries. Instead, she settled on hunting down pieces of Tony’s suit, determined to be useful.

      Most of the pieces she had been able to gather herself, though she had to ask an agent to get the last couple pieces off the tarmac for her and bring them to the lab. Aurora spent hours working on the suit, not noticing when Bruce entered or left, she simply had something to focus her energy on.

      It was Tony that entered the lab, seeing her bent over the exposed wires of the suit. “How long have you been here?” He frowned as she didn’t register him being there. “Hey?” Tony poked her shoulder.

      She looked up in surprize. “Shouldn’t you be in the med bay? You just got back...” Aurora looked over at the clock and back to Tony before speaking. "4 hours ago?”

      “16 hours ago.” Tony corrected. “At least now I know why you didn’t visit.”

      “Oh…” Aurora looked again at the clock on the wall, “So, how is everyone?”

      “Sore. We took a bit of a beating.” Tony looked down at her work, it was coming together well for someone who hadn't seen much of the technology inside it before.

      “I’m sorry I wasn’t there.” Aurora sighed.

      “Don’t worry about it.” Tony said. “Just get some rest.”  Aurora sighed and gave in, letting Tony push her out of the lab and towards the sleeping quarters on the ship.

 


	16. The Gift

                                                                                                …………………...........

      It wasn’t often Aurora and Natasha were left alone. The tension between the two females was very clear to the rest of the group. However, now, after Clint was called away, the two were left alone in the small lounge.  
      Aurora leant forward a bit in her seat, which sat across the room from Natasha, before breaking the silence that had fallen in the room, “You know, I respect your fighting style.”  
      Natasha raised an eyebrow and looked over at her, “That was almost a compliment.”  
      Aurora shrugged, “Well, it should be said. It is painfully clear how much tension there is between us. Not that there isn’t a valid reason behind it of course.”  
      “Oh? You notice that you’re cold to everyone?” Natasha smirked gently.  
      Aurora gave a short laugh before inhaling and turning to a more serious tone, “No, it’s a far more… Troubling reason... It’s because of Madam B. I spent a month learning from her.” She searched the face across from her, looking and waiting for a reaction to the news.  
      Natasha’s smirk dropped as she glared at Aurora, “That woman?” She seethed, “That bitch from the Red Room?” Her voice was seeping with venom as she remembered her face.  
      Aurora nodded, “She hired me from Victor when I was young, she wanted a back up to take out rogue agents. She _corrected_ my stance, my walk, my posture, it reminds you of that place, I don’t blame you for disliking me so.”  
      “I didn’t even notice.” Natasha looked Aurora over again, now realizing she was right.  
      “It has become second nature to me when I see someone from that place, I barely notice the change myself.” Aurora looked down. “It makes me uncomfortable to see you as well.”  
      “Is that why you shot that arrow so close to me the first time we met?” Natasha frowned, “You picked me out that quickly?”  
      “Well, yes and no. It was your tone and I was running from HAF. I wasn’t sure whose side you were on. The last thing I knew for certain was that I was wanted dead by them and with the chance that you and the rest of them were there to collect me again, wasn’t something I wanted to happen.” Aurora sighed, “Besides, it’s not like I hit you.”  
      “So we were made to hate each other…” Natasha shook her head and looked at a spot on the floor between her feet.  
      “The closest we'll ever get to liking each other I think, is to agree to disagree.” Aurora smirked.  
      Natasha scoffed a little laugh and nodded, “I would agree with you but then we’d both be wrong. And we can’t have that.” The two women laughed at this, knowing it was all too true.  
      “They’re laughing… Together…” Clint stared through the crack in the door.  
      Tony, who was standing behind him, rolled his eyes, “Of course, they’re allowed to get along once in awhile. Even if they have a terrible and evil plan to torture all men, they can learn to behave when in the same room.” He paused, “But, most likely Aurora knows we’re out here…” Clint paled a little and backed away from the door.  
      “Tony is right!” Aurora shouted from inside.  
      Tony smirked, entering the room with Clint slowing creeping in behind him, “So what are you two up to?”  
      “Oh, nothing much.” Natasha said with a sweet smile to the two who came into the room.  
      “Nothing at all.” Aurora mirrored the same expression as her companion, which greatly unnerved the men.  
      “This is not a good sign.” Clint whispered over to Tony.  
      Tony only shook his head, never taking his eyes off of them. “Whatever do you mean? Two master assassins suddenly getting along?”  
      “I’m more worried about two females who are trained to kill, teaming up.” Clint muttered.  
      “Oh, don’t worry, we still don’t like each other that much.” Natasha waved her hand dismissively and let her smile drop.  
      “True, just enough that we won’t turn on each other.” Aurora agreed, her smile disappeared as well and was replaced by a blank expression.  
      “Want to hit the gym?” Natasha asked.  
      “Why, I believe I would.” Aurora nodded and stood to move past Clint and Tony, Natasha following her out of the room.  
      “See? Nothing to worry about…” Tony swallowed and plopped himself into a chair with a sigh.

      In the gym Steve was already punishing the punching bag, “Hey Steve, want to train with us?” Natasha offered.  
      “We couldn’t beat her before.” He raised an eyebrow, “It’s not helping you at all is it?” he looked at Aurora.  
      “Well no, but I can help correct form and I recite the elements to you by name, weight and atomic size.” Aurora shrugged, “Or if you like we can tie one hand behind my back while we fight. I’ll let you pick.”  
      It had been just over an hour but to keep up with her open and friendly attitude during training, Aurora was already feeling the emotional wear on her. When Natasha and Steve both said they were heading for the lounge again to meet up with Tony and Clint, Aurora said she was heading for her room.

      Aurora sighed, walking into her quarters. She felt drained after today and had been intending to just lay down. All her plans changed when she stepped to the edge of the bed and hit her foot on the small box she had placed on the floor beneath it. She froze immediately remembering its contents and all she could do was close her eyes and exhale. After a while Aurora knelt down and pulled the box out from it’s spot, the void feeling in her chest seemed to be collapsing in on itself and emotions flooding into the vacant space. She shook her head trying to clear her thoughts as she dug the three discs out of the box and a small slip of paper fell out and fluttered to the ground as she lifted them out. Setting the discs on her bed, she unfolded the note.  
      “Aurora, I have no further use of these, thought you might want them. - Director Fury.”  
      Aurora exhaled shakily and dropped the note onto the bed as she picked up the discs. It unnerved her that the Director had seen what was recorded on them. Standing and leaving the room holding the gifts, she checked the halls carefully as she walked down them. It was late but not late enough that people were sleeping just yet. She ducked into a rarely used meeting room with an oval desk surrounded by five large chairs, each pointed at the sizeable screen on the far wall.  
      The discs hit the table as she pushed it closer to the screen, she slipped the first disc into the system watching the screen light up. Aurora sat on the end of the table, the viewing wall so close she could reach out and touch it. A choked sob left her lips as the screen lit up to show Sara’s smiling face as she explained to Lucas how to operate the camera she had just give him.  
      Though she was young she spoke with proven knowledge. Cody appeared in a rush of wind behind her, nuzzling his face into her neck. “Sara my dearest love.” he smirked as he had to bend down to her to make up for nearly the foot in their height difference.  
      “Oh, stop it you!” She giggled, playfully pushing him away.  
      “It’s cute.” A female voice commented. The camera spun to zoom in on a redhead entering from a tall white doorway; Amelia.  
      “Uhh, my dearest love?” Lucas’ voice sounded slightly unsure as he held out his hand for her from his place at her side.  
      “You don’t call me that.” She rolled her eyes but took his hand before she was pulled behind the camera's view. “We are not an adorable couple like they are.” The camera turned back to Sara and Cody as they play fought.  
      Aurora leant forward, wanting nothing more than to reach out and touch them, she knew it wouldn’t ever be possible to see her friends again. There was laughter on the screen as Cody let Sara win the fight. Aurora sniffed, she hadn’t realized when tears had slowly started to roll down her cheeks but she didn’t bother to wipe them away, she was alone.  
      The view faded as the current shot ended and the next started. Aurora let out another shaky breath.  
      “Hey, look at me!” A boy with orange hair zipped across the screen. Aurora chuckled, her chest contracted in pain but it felt good to laugh at the antics.  
      “Cody, slow down, the camera can't keep up!” Lucas' voice shouted.  
      “Cody!” The camera spun around to see a fair skinned teen girl.  
      “Hey, Sara.” Cody appeared with a gust of wind.  
      “Guys!” Another girl ran into the shot.  
      “What's up, Amelia?”  
      “Watch out, Zachery and Hunter are arguing again and they're head towards the training room.” Amelia sounded less than impressed, but still not surprised by the pending event.  
      Aurora bit her lip, waiting to see which fight she and Zack were having this time. She remembered so many, but there were even more that she couldn’t recall.  
      Back on the screen, a silence fell. “My next report says they won't make it through the door into this room before they start fighting.” Cody called, placing a bet.  
      “Next two says they will.” Lucas said in competition, it was common that they would bet on writing each other’s mission reports, something that had annoyed Hunter to no end.  
      “You’re on.” Cody grinned.  
      “How dare you!” A blast shot through the wall behind them, barely missing the three on camera. Static made the recording hard to see, but the next picture was of a pissed off Hunter, glaring at a boy.  
      “It's true!” The boy shouted back.  
      “Is not! It's because I'm the best!” Hunter shouted, “You’re second best Deception, on a good day!”  
      “No, you’re not! I'm way better than you!” Deception yelled back. She shot an energy pulse of electricity and heat towards him, only for the illusion to vanish when it hit where he had been standing. “See? You can't even find me!”  
      “I don't have to.” Hunter said a little too calmly.  
      “Guys? We need to run now. Now!” A voice off camera said. It was too late, however, as Hunter sent a searing and deafening wave around the room. Once again the static filled the screen and the image now showed Zachery struggling to get to his feet as Hunter stood above him, truly superior.  
      “What is going on in here?!” Greg burst into the training room, Hunter and Deception flinched. “You know what? I don't need to know right now. Hunter. Deception. Victor's office, now!” Hunter and Deception scurried out of the room as fast as they could and Greg turned to the other occupants of the room, still burning with rage, “I'd suggest you all leave before I make you go with them.”  
      The camera was pointed at the ground as the others ran from the room. “So...” Amelia started when they appeared to be in a living room of sorts and the camera was up looking at everyone again. “Who exactly won that bet?”  
      “Right! They came in through the wall.” Sara snickered.  
      “I knew I should have bet on the wall!” Cody said right before the tape ended.  
      Aurora laughed, she was hardly ever privy to these bets, but the ones that were made in her presence often ended like this with no clear winner. Grey static clouded the screen, signalling her to change the disc. With the next disc in, she sighed and waited for the following images of heart-wrenching memories to start.


	17. The Recordings

        “Has anyone seen Aurora?” Tony frowned, entering the lounge.  
        “Wasn’t she going to her room?” Steve offered.  
        “She’s not there.” Tony shook his head, “I can’t find her anywhere.”  
        “It’s like the first week all over again.” Clint groaned. Tony rolled his eyes and took the laptop from Clint’s lap, “Hey!”  
        “Relax, I’m checking the cameras.” Tony said, typing away. After a few moments he stopped and frowned, “She’s in a meeting room, she was carrying something in there. That was awhile ago too.”  
        “What did she have?” Bruce asked, leaning forward in his seat and sipping his coffee.  
        “I couldn’t tell, but she hasn’t left yet.” Tony stood, leaving the laptop behind as he made his way to the meeting room.  
        Standing outside the door, Tony paused as he heard muffled voices and a small, pained laugh. When he finally opened the door silently, he saw Aurora on the table watching the large wall screen intently. The faces of her team were on the screen, he recognized them from the tape Fury had shown them. Tony heard quiet shifting behind him and saw that he had gained the interest of the others as they had followed him. He put a finger to his lips before turning and entering the room, the group silently in tow.  
        On the screen a young Hunter was perched on a plain metal staff that stood vertically in the training room, she looked no older than 7. Her eyes were closed as she crouched, “Good god, she's so quiet.” Deception stepped into the picture. “Maybe I should get her to say something.” he gave a devilish grin to the camera.  
        “Ah, Zachery, don’t.” Another youthful male voice said as the camera backed away.

        “Listen to Lucas.” Aurora whispered to the screen. Unaware the team had joined her in the room.

        It was too late as Zachery kicked the staff and it clattered to the floor and rolled off to the side. Hunter's eyes slowly opened as she was still silently hovering in the air. As she stood up she lowered to the floor. Once her feet touched the paved ground she moved to turn away but came back with a roundhouse kick, knocking Zachery to the ground in one swift motion. She raised her chin and looked at the camera before smirking and raising a finger to her lips. Without a word, she disappeared from view.  
        “So much for making her say something.” The voice behind the camera muttered.

        Aurora let out a low laugh, “And don’t bet on it anytime soon.” she breathed a sigh as a new image came on.  
        “Should we be doing this?” Sara whispered nervously. The screen was mostly black as a shadowed figure moved across the view.  
        “No...” Aurora answered sadly as she bit her lip once more and tilted her head to the side to rest it on her shoulder. The table turned out to be less comfortable than she was hoping but it didn’t take away from any of what was happening on the recordings in front of her.  
        “It will be fine.” Cody reassured her as the camera neared a solid looking door at the top of a staircase.  
        The door swung open, allowing light to flood onto the screen in a bright haze, they appeared to be on a roof in the open air, “This is great!” Sara sighed and spun gleefully as her shoes made crunching noises on the little white rocks that covered the ground.  
        “Fresh air is always the best.” Cody zipped around, neither he nor Tech looked much older than 16.  
        “Of course, we haven’t been out in weeks.” Amelia sighed, opening her arms and letting the wind play with her loose clothing and ginger hair. The camera was set down off to the side before Lucas joined them on-screen. He was quick to pick up Amelia and fly a few feet into the air. She laughed, spreading her arms, enjoying the moment.  
        The door was opened again, “Everyone back inside now.” Hunter demanded. She squinted and looked around at the group that was enjoying being outdoors, her long hair tangled around her neck in defiance as she pushed it out of her face.  
        “Why?” Sara looked at her sadly, “We really need the fresh air.”  
        Hunter shushed her quickly and half turned her head back towards the door listening. “Greg is coming, go over the side and in through the window to the upper lounge. Now!” Hunter commanded. This seem to get the team moving, Lucas was still carrying Amelia and Cody had picked up Sara.  
        “Wait, my camera.” Lucas panicked and started to put Amelia down.  
        “Go. I’ll get it.” Hunter said, turning back to the recording device. Flight nodded and lifted Amelia once again, then the four slipped over the half wall that guarded the roof and out of sight.  
        Hunter was only halfway to grabbing the camera when the door slammed open beside her, “You are not supposed to be here.” Greg seethed at her.  
        “I was training.” Hunter said automatically, very little emotion showed in her voice.  
        Greg looked around and immediately noticed the camera, “With Flight’s camera? Where are the others?”  
        “I stole the camera, I need to make sure my form was correct.” Hunter said. The sudden fist to her face sent her backwards onto the gravel of the roof.  
        “You know better than to lie Hunter. Try again.” Greg said, looming over her. She propped herself up enough that she wasn’t talking into the dirt but did not fully stand up.  
        “You said my roundhouse was off yesterday, I was practising.” Hunter said, only to receive a kick to her gut before being picked up by her hair. She only let an almost inaudible groan escape her lips as she attempted not to struggle, as to prove to Greg she was strong but did not resist him.  
        “Pathetic.” He hissed and tossed her aside to leave the roof. Hunter picked herself up from the ground, holding her ribs where she was kicked and walked over to the camera. When she picked it up it could be seen that her lip was bleeding. Hunter didn’t bother to shut it off as she returned to the building.  
        “Oh my god, what happened?!” Sara exclaimed when Hunter entered a brighter room that the group had snuck into. The window had been closed but remained unlocked in case of the need to use it for escape again.  
        “Be more careful next time.” Hunter’s voice came across as the camera was passed to someone else, it was slowly focused on the group again. “If Greg asks, I stole it from you.” Hunter said as she turned and left the room. The camera panned around the little lounge, taking in the sad and ashamed looks of Cody, Sara, and Amelia. Behind them a slightly older male sat in the corner with an old leather-bound book in his hand, he frowned sadly at the group then placed his book on the table and walked out. The microphone could pick up his lightly jogging footsteps over the silence of the room. The screen went black when the camera clicking off.

        Aurora sighed from the table, “I said it was a bad idea.” She whispered, looking down from the wall and the man who appeared in the background, he was barely there but it stirred up mixed emotions for the non team member. The Avengers exchanged glances, they were starting to get a better image of how she had been treated. Tony swallowed as he slowly approached the table and sat behind her but she gave no indication that she knew he was there. Aurora, or rather her younger voice drew attention back to the screen.

  
        “Flight, do you need to record this?” A young Hunter said.  
        “Yeah or I'll forget, besides, it can't be as bad as my training mishap.” A voice behind the camera said. “You probably won’t end up with memory loss like I did.”  
        “Whatever.” Hunter then looked to her hands and focused all of her attention there. Her hands were out in front of her like she was holding a basketball.

        “Don’t do that.” Aurora warned her younger self.

        A slight glow started to emerge between her hands before the camera went flying. The view, which was now on its side, showed Hunter had been blasted into the wall behind her.  
        “Hunter, are you ok?” Lucas forgot the camera for a moment as he ran across the room to her aid.  
        “Yes.” Hunter said, jerking her arm away from Lucas who was trying to help her up. Her tone was strict and not something you would expect from a 12-year-old girl.  
        Flight shied away from her, “Ok, I'll just go see how Amelia is doing.” Lucas gathered his camera and clicked it off.

        “Couldn’t damn well have just accepted his help.” Aurora muttered, scolding herself. She jumped when Tony placed his hand on her her shoulder, she didn’t turn, but instead wiped the tears from her face, “H-how long have you’ve here?” She asked shakily.  
        “It doesn’t matter,” Tony said quietly, “But we are here for you now.” She nodded mutely, not trusting her words or herself to even be able to face them now.

        The video was still rolling, having not come to the end just yet. “Okay, go.” a voice said behind the camera. A 10-year-old Hunter stood in the centre of the training room with a syringe in her hand. Amelia and Sara stood next to her watching with Cody off to the side. Hunter nodded and dug the syringe into her arm and pressed an unknown liquid through into her body. She pulled it out and closed her eyes, her body began to quiver and she shook, her face twisted into a pained sneer, and Sara moved forward, inspecting her intently. Suddenly her eyes widened at the black veins that began to crawl quickly up Hunter's arm to her face.  
        “Stop, Hunter! Abort now! You have to stop or you'll die! I said stop!” Sara was yelling at her but she didn't seem to notice, instead Hunter simply took a step back and let the black flow painfully through her body, Amelia's low growl sounded more like a dog than a human as she leapt forward slightly at Hunter. The camera was put on the floor, yet everyone remained in its frame since it was quite far from them.  
        “Hunter, she said stop! You don't need this!” The voice from behind the camera's view came again, it was heavy with panic. Hunter's face was beginning to blacken and her right side had lost senses. But still she kept her eyes shut and seemed to concentrate.  
        “Hunter!” A new voice entered the room; Deception. Zachery ran over to her with a large cylindrical object in his hand, and harshly gripped the young Hunter's arm. She flinched violently and snarled in much the tone of an angry wolf. Her eyes snapped open when Deception clicked a button on the cylindrical object in his hand and brought it down hard onto her chest, where he held it. Hunter fought him, she lifted her still working arm and with lengthened and sharp claw-like hands she gripped his throat and squeezed. Deception's eyes were strong and he managed to hold his ground against the strangely malformed girl. He struggled for air as the cylinder in his hand gave another click and Hunter snarled again, this time in pain. She dropped Zachery who collapsed to his hands and knees coughing and gasping for air and stared down wide-eyed at the object jutting from her chest. She glared over to Amelia and Sara with dark animal-like eyes, her facial features had sharpened and her jaw had lengthened slightly. Zachery finally looked up, still coughing, to see Hunter open her mouth into a snarl and from the camera's angle, it could be seen that his eyes fell on the sharp row of teeth and the fangs that protruded from her mouth.  
        The breathing behind the grounded camera became stronger and more filled with fear, Sara was being sheltered behind Cody, who had appeared suddenly between her and the transforming Hunter. Amelia was now in the shape of a black wolf, her teeth bared at Hunter, who snapped back.  
        “Hunter?” Cody whispered in a feeble attempt to calm her. The cylinder in her chest began to pump as the black covered her face and was descending her opposite arm. Zachery swore and jumped up suddenly to dig a knife into Hunter's right arm, his face was sprayed with black fluid and he wrestled with the powerful girl, he seemed to be trying his hardest not to collide with the large syringe object. She bit his upper arm with strong jaws and he called out in pain, they fell and rolled around on the floor until Zachery was laying on her right arm, where he elbowed her nose to keep her from biting him again. She lashed at him with her failing arm and tore a long gash across his ribs, he flinched but he pulled an object from the knife wound and placed another in its stead. He then quickly rolled off of her to barely escape another slash from her clawed hand.  
        He knelt in front of her, watching as Hunter began to writhe with new found pain. The black began to recede from her body but the film covered with small amounts of static. “Get the sprinklers on! Now!” Deception shouted at Cody, he nodded and stepped away from Sara and the wolf Amelia to appear again soon with a downpour from the fire sprinklers. Drops covered the lens of the camera and Hunter stopped quaking on the floor, she lay perfectly still until the blackness had receded fully from her body which had only taken a minute, and the large syringe dropped from her chest to the floor with a metallic clank. Hunter's features could barely be made out over the water-covered camera but they had returned to normal. The sprinkler system had also stopped.  
        A loud noise came from off side of the shot and a middle-aged man dressed in green military garb strode angrily over to the little group. “What is going on in here?” the man shouted. He marched over to the unconscious Hunter and harshly grabbed her shirt, lifting her from the concrete ground. He eyes snapped open and somehow her feet had been placed on the man's, Greg’s, chest and she was now backflipping away from him. He stumbled and yelled again. “How dare you? You insolent child!” He started back at her when she effortlessly landed some few meters away. The rest of the group stood silently and terrified away from the confrontation.  
        Hunter's eyes were cold as she rushed at him, jumping up she placed her right arm on his shoulder and spun around onto his back with one fluid motion, her face showed no emotion. The camera was picked up again and was zoomed in on the fray. Hunter kicked both of her feet into the back of the man's knees, bringing him to the floor. She then leapt from his back and rolled across the floor, disappearing into nothing in the puddles left by the sprinklers. Greg quickly got to his feet and drew his gun from his belt, he waved it at the small group assembled in the wet training room.  
        “Where is she? What were you doing?” He was struck from behind and was shoved to the ground again. Hunter stood in front of him looking down at him with cold eyes. Greg glared at her position of superiority and pointed his gun at her head. She only sneered and batted his hand away. She turned and started to walk away but he rose to his feet, and with the gun still in his hand, he shot her in the shoulder. The young Hunter grunted and spun on him, blood poured from the newly open wound a, with a powerful blast, Greg was thrown across the room and crashed unconscious into the opposite wall.  
        None of the others moved to help either of the two. But the camera moved around to try to relocate Hunter who had abruptly disappeared from sight. It stopped on the door when it began to open and another middle aged man came in, he was wearing a long white lab coat. Upon seeing him, Amelia returned to her human form, wearing only tight leather-like clothes. The group shifted uncomfortably as Victor walked over silently.  
        “Where is Hunter?” He asked after surveying the damaged and bloody scene before him.  
        “She disappeared, Sir. I think she ran away again.” It was Sara who responded with her head bent.  
        “I see. Thank you. You can leave Mr. Wilson over there, he'll wake soon enough.” The man gestured over at the far wall towards the military man.  
        “Sir, if I may?” The youthful Deception started, looking at the scientist.  
        “Yes, what is it Deception?” Victor turned towards him.  
        “Why is Hunter so different? She always fights and runs away, she must despise us for something, but I don’t know what.” Zachery glanced around at the carnage, the others looked at the man's face expectantly.  
        Victor sighed and placed a hand on the boy’s shoulder, it was only at waist height for him. “That is not of your concern. Besides, it is not you whom she hates. Do not let that bother you. Okay?” The boy nodded and, removing his hand from his shoulder, the man looked at the camera’s wielder. “You can shut that off now, but I want to see what happened, so bring it to my office. Thank you, Flight.”  
        The view on the screen went dark.


	18. The Evaluation

       Aurora sat on the edge of the table looking at her hands as the recording shut down and the screen went black. She felt a cold shiver run through her body, not sure if it was out of the sadness that she felt or if it was from Tony sitting behind her, watching her. She remembered every recording that Lucas had made, all due to his training accident when they were young leaving him with frequent memory loss. He carried the little camera around everywhere, documenting everything in the event that he forgot something or someone. It was strange to re-live everything through a video on a little disc and she was surprised to see that any of the discs were spared by Victor.  
       Aurora had assumed that the HAF base would have been purged of all information, but when she and the Avengers had returned there, much of what she remembered being there, still remained. Even though Victor and Greg destroyed the team, they failed to eliminate their own tracks. _Or they were interrupted._ She thought back to the man who sat reading in the background of the last memory, she knew him well and she missed him, despite everything.  
       “Aurora? Hey.” Tony touched her shoulder lightly but she didn’t move or turn her head towards him.  
       “They never did tell us why I was so different. I figure now that that was because of how I would have reacted to it. Would I have gone looking? Would I have cared? They couldn’t risk it,” Aurora whispered, “and I asked him so often, right up to the day before…” she trail off, “I just wanted to be better, to fit, I knew they were expecting me to be the best. To lead them.”  
       “So you did that to yourself?” Tony asked, matching her light and almost ghastly tone.  
       “I hated myself and everyone, I didn’t care if I died, I was in hell. I didn’t want anyone telling me what to do, I pushed away anyone who tried to care for me, only using them to get what I thought I wanted.” She snorted at the thought of her younger self’s attitude. “Even though my mind hadn’t changed much, I eventually grew to care and protect them in whatever way I could manage, but it took so long to want to even bother to try.”  
       “We’re here for you now, I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you growing up, I could have prevented so much of all of that.” Tony whispered, more ashamed of himself than ever.  
       The rest of the Avengers shifted and kept their eyes from meeting anyone else’s, each having their own internal struggles.  
       Steve realised why she had thought he had been unwilling, especially if she thought all experiments were as harsh as her own. Natasha now understood why she was always so cold and guarded, any emotions were taught to be seen as weaknesses. The Asgardian had a newfound understanding of, not only her physical strength but her emotional strength. Clint realised why she hadn’t hurt them with his bow, even when she was running from the strange group intent on capturing her, she was used to protecting a team, she must’ve seen it as soon she laid eyes on them. Bruce saw why she had asked about the Hulk, a transformation like her’s in the video would have been painful. To offer help, she was attempting to spare him future pain, to aid him with any knowledge and understanding she had.  
       Everything she was or did now was tied to her experience from HAF. Mentally she was exhausted and even just sitting here with them watching her was draining her remaining energy. Silence hung heavy in the room as the team was unsure how to comfort her.  
       The door sliding open caused a few to jump in surprise, “I see you finally decided to watch them.” The Director’s voice cut through the room.  
       Aurora turned to look at him but kept her head lowered so Fury couldn’t see her face. She nodded, hopping off the table, “Yes, thank you for giving them to me.” she said, keeping her hair covering her face as she collected the discs from the table and the reader and exited past the group out of the room.  
       “You knew about this? You knew about what was on those?” Tony stood looking at him baffled. “How could you keep this to yourself!?”  
Fury cocked his head to the side, “I watched them because I needed to know about that team. You should really be asking why she hasn’t told anyone about it herself yet.”  
       “Do you blame her?” Tony gestured to the blank screen. “No wonder she was surprised when you gave her the punishment,” he muttered. “She was expecting to be beaten, not scolded and temporarily restricted.”  
       “It’s a shame, her team would’ve made perfect recruits if given the opportunity.” The Director said, almost with a touch of disappointment.  
       “It’s amazing she’s even here and able to do what she does and you want more?” Tony scoffed, pushing past him and storming out of the room.  
       “I’m not going to lie and say she is a bad soldier, but I think she deserves more credit than we are giving her.” Steve said quietly, “I might have been under longer but I wasn’t forced to watch the howling commandos die.” He too passed the Director on his way out of the room.  
       “Agreed, I’m concerned about the psychological trauma that has occurred. There is no way she got out of that without some kind of lasting effect. Even after almost what, 7, 8 months of being out of that vault already?” Bruce nodded, following the Captain out of the room.  
       “The Maiden is strong, but I’ve seen Asgardian warriors fall victim to their own minds.” Thor left, his long strides only taking him seconds to disappear.  
       Clint and Natasha exchanged looks before Natasha spoke, “I respect her, but is she fit for active duty?”  
       Clint nodded in agreeance, “We should at least make sure she is stable.” Fury nodded thoughtfully, considering the idea.

                                                                                          ………………………….

       It was morning when the team had reassembled in the cafeteria eating breakfast. The table was quiet save for the sounds of utensils on plates or bowls. Aurora shook her head as she sat at the end and thinking to herself about everything that’s happened since her return to the unfrozen world.  
       Aurora sighed before she spoke, “You know, you don’t have to pity me, I’d rather you didn’t. I just want you all to know I promise you, as my new... friends, I will not let your deaths be caused by my actions.”  
       “Aurora...” Tony started, he looked up to see Aurora already across the room and heading for the door.  
       “Makes you wonder how they, six assassins, ending up in that room.” Natasha said quietly.  
       “Surely Aurora would’ve seen it coming.” Bruce frowned, “Her intelligence is off the charts, there has to be a reason she didn’t run.”  
       “She said someone she trusted told her she had no parents,” Tony muttered. “Where and why would she go if she believed that to be true?”  
       “She doesn’t seem the type to blindly follow someone.” Steve frowned, “She has a strong opinion, too strong to remain quiet when she knows something feels off.”  
       “There had to be something we don’t know about.” Clint said, “Something that forced her, something working just under the surface.”  
       “Fury’s going to have a psychiatric assessment done of her before he returns her to active duty. Just in case.” Natasha volunteered the information.  
       “Is there any way she can pass that?” Bruce asked.  
       “She doesn’t seem to be acting that oddly.” Tony said, “If she’s faking it, she’s got enough of a grasp on it now that she can hide it.”  
       “She was cold and quiet in those videos, she’s almost friendly and open now. We don’t who she was before.” Natasha pointed out.

       There were only a few days left of her probation when Fury called Aurora into his office. “Do you know why you are here?” he asked from behind his desk.  
       Aurora frowned, “My probation is up in a few days, I assumed that was the cause.”  
       “Yes it is, but I also want you to sit down with SHIELD's psychiatrist, I’m sure I am not the only one concerned with your mental state.” Fury watched her for any signs of disapproval.  
       “I see, will my physical state also be evaluated?” Aurora asked.  
       “You train more than my own agents, I don’t doubt your capabilities.” Fury told her.  
       Aurora nodded, “When and where am I to meet this person?”  
       “Tomorrow at 1, room A34 level 3,” Fury told her, “Dismissed.” Aurora accepted this nodded once and left.

       Aurora arrived on time to the room knocking on the metal door, she heard a faint and muffled ‘come in’. Entering the room she was met with a middle-aged woman. She was dressed professionally in the usual SHIELD garb and a kind smile hung around her gentle features. “Hello, you must be Aurora.” the woman gestured to the soft chair across from her.  
       “Yes, I am.” Aurora nodded and sat down. She immediately evaluated the woman, looking for the type of person she was. Aurora was used to the psychiatrist or mentally focused types; they liked to dig, it was their job, but she knew the only reason that they were there was to see if their own patients were as messed up as they themselves were. The game of normality was on.  
       “I am Dr, Anderson, but you can call me Julia if you would like. Now, do you know why you are here?” Julia asked, establishing baselines for both herself and Aurora.  
       Aurora smiled pleasantly, letting the roughness in her face soften out, “Yes, a few people are concerned with my mental state. I feel obligated to tell you that this is my first psychiatric evaluation.”  
       “Well they are normally very painless.” the women smiled again, “Now, I’ve heard a few things about you, why don’t we start with your former team.” Aurora inhaled deeply, she knew exactly how to answer this and any other questions Julia may have. Aurora fully understood what was considered normal behaviour and she knew how to convince the good doctor she was of sound mind. _Game on._

       Dr. Anderson walked into the meeting room where the team and Fury were waiting for her opinion. Julia once again beamed her friendly smile to the near-strangers, “She’s completely fine, she still mourns her team but she is in no way a danger to anyone in a mental capacity.”  
       “Are you positive?” Fury frowned.  
       “Yes, she is very good at processing her emotions, better than most actually.” The doctor confirmed.  
       “She told you about how she was beaten, experimented on, lied to, and her friends in the room?” Fury pressed, not quite believing she could possibly be of sound mind.  
       “Yes, but she has been taking personal time and dealing with her past, she says it helps having her father and his team be here for her. This environment is actually helping her as she feels safe with this being a somewhat familiar setting to her.” Julia informed them.  
       “She called me her father?” Tony asked eagerly.  
       “I can not go into details Mr. Stark.” Julia told him, “She is still trying to learn to open herself to others, I can not and will not violate her confidentiality any more than I have already.”  
       “So she's sane…” Natasha’s brow furrowed at the information as she rolled it around in her head.  
       “More-so than most.” Julia confirmed.  
       Everyone was surprised since no one had expected Aurora to actually pass the assessment with such praise. Tony had hoped she would but had not dared put too much reliance on it. In the end, everyone had to accept she was mentally stable, after all, the doctor and Aurora had spoken over a few hours. In a couple days she would be able to return to active duty with the Avengers.


	19. The Solo Assignment

       Aurora’s probation was finally complete and Fury had even invited her into a more permanent position among the group, saying that her skills were ‘far too good to let go to waste.’ She wondered if he had been thinking of this for a long time but was remaining on the fence about it due to worrying about her mental state. It was the most likely cause since she had multiple opportunities to leave and yet they found no way or reason to simply let her go.  
       “Hey, Clint!” Aurora called after lunch one day. It had been a quiet afternoon aboard the helicarrier once again and she was looking for something practical to do.  
       “Hey Aurora, what's going on?” Clint stopped and waited for her to catch up to him.  
       “I was wondering if you could help me train with my powers?” she asked with a smile, jogging up to his side and slowing down to walk next to him as they continued down the corridor.  
       “Sure. What were you thinking?” he asked as they turned the next corner toward the training room.  
       “Well, you know how you shot the arrow through my shoulder a while back? I was thinking about trying that but in a different way.” Aurora walked through the door Clint held for her. “I have theories, but I need to test them outside of the field so it doesn’t end up to be a problem.”  
       “So you want me to shoot arrows at you?” Clint said nervously.  
       “Just my hand.” She held her hand up and wiggled her fingers with a cheery smile.  
       Clint just stared at her for a moment before going over and picking up the practice bow off the wall, “Is this going to work?” clearly still unsure of this.  
       “Yes. Now aim for the middle of my hand.” Aurora held her hand out to the side with her palm facing her opponent.  
       Clint shook his head but let loose the arrow. The arrow sailed through a hole, barely the size of the arrow shaft, that opened in her hand, at least until it came to the fletches of the arrow. The feathers caught in her hand and the arrow stopped. “Are you alright?” Clint watched as she pulled the arrow through the back of her hand. Blood began to drip relentlessly from the open wound but Aurora didn't seem to notice the obvious pain.  
       “Again.” She held out her other hand in the same way as the first. A look of determination across her tanned features.  
       “No way, I am not doing this anymore.” Clint started to walk away.  
       “Fine, I'll get Natasha.”  
       Clint stopped and put his head back in annoyance, looking up to the ceiling, “Fine,” he turned around and readied another arrow. She nodded once at him and the arrow flew through her hand, this time not touching her skin at all. “There, you did it, no more.”  
       “One more.” Aurora argued.  
       “Fine, but that's it.”  
       “Aim at my heart.” she looked at him with a grim seriousness.  
       “No way, not that, no one would do that.” Clint said, confident that she wouldn't find anyone crazy enough to do it.  
       “Alright, I'll get a gun and aim it at myself. You'll know I'll have far less response time from both it being closer and basically having to multitask with pulling the trigger and reacting fast enough to the actual bullet.” Aurora crossed her arms and slowly paced in a small circle, gesturing with her bloodied hand at each point she made, it had at least stopped bleeding.   
       “Guilt me into it, why don't you.” Clint sighed and looked at his next arrow but didn't move to get it.  
       “Also, you owe me for saving your life.” She looked at him evenly and stopped her pacing, waiting for his response.  
       “You've never saved my life before.” His face went blank in panicked thought. “Have you?”  
       “Not yet.”  
       “You see the future now?”  
       “No. But you never know, it may happen. Then we will be even. I promise you this.” Aurora placed a hand over her heart as if in a solemn oath, her face was blank but a strange calmness mingled in her voice.  
       Clint bit his lip, “Damn it! Fine, but I'm never training with you again.” He angrily grabbed the final arrow.  
       “Thank you. Go ahead.” Aurora stood plainly with her arms at her sides, she was so calm it unnerved him. He took aim and, with a deep breath, loosened the arrow. Tony happened to be entering the training room at the same time. He watched from the doorway as Clint's arrow raced towards his daughter, the arrow was inches away from her chest when he yelled.  
       “What the fuck is going on!” Aurora's eyes flew open from when she had previously closed them. Pain crossed her face as the hole she began to open for the arrow started to closed around the projectile in mid-flight. She quickly managed to let the arrow phase though more painfully as she had done many times before. The arrow landed behind her wet with blood as she dropped to her knees and panted from what nearly just happened.  
       “Tony, please don't do that I almost died... again.” Aurora said through gritted teeth. “I kind of need to focus the first few times. Interruptions are really not a good idea.”  
       “What were you thinking!” Tony yelled at both Clint and Aurora, ignoring her warning.  
       “She said that if I didn't she was going to do it anyway with a gun.” Clint said, clearly not wanting to be there. “At least this way someone was there in case, I don’t know, she messed up?”  
       “Now that I think about it, a bullet would have been easier to work with, so I'm glad I got the practice with the arrows first.” Aurora coughed, a small amount of blood splattered her sleeve. “Tony, I convinced Hawkeye to train with me, I've always trained with the life and death factor, that's just how I was taught and raised. We were threatened to our deaths if we failed in any amount to pass our tests.” Aurora said, standing and wincing when she rubbed her chest, blood staining the front of her shirt. She was glad Clint was the one that she asked, he was usually more level headed about drastic plans than the others were. He had stopped trying to talk sense into her a long time ago.  
       “Well, you’re not training like this anymore. You were evidently raised badly.” Tony told her. “And you...” Tony turned to where Clint should have been but all that was there was the practice bow.  
       “I wasn't really given the choice,” Aurora growled. “I promise nothing.” She pushed past him out of the room.

                                                                                  ..................................................

       Aurora caught up with Clint in the hall again the next day, she had used minimal effort to avoid Tony for most of the rest of the previous day and it seemed to have been enough to stay out of sight.  
       “Hey, Clint.” Aurora shouted.  
       Clint turned to see Aurora jogging to catch up, “No way, I'm not training with you anymore.” Clint backed away with his hands raised in resistance. Earlier that morning Tony had 'accidentally' misfired when target practicing. Clint had made a narrow escape.  
       “No, I wanted to say thanks and to give you this.” She held out a little metal box. Clint took it from her tentatively and opened it to see six small arrow attachments neatly packed in their foam slots. “It's from HAF, my friend made it, it stuns whoever it hits by sending a small electrical charge through the central nervous system to the cerebellum, temporarily overriding any other commands and rendering the target unable to move. Completely balanced when installed properly.”  
       “I understood very little of that, but thank you.” Clint lifted one of the small objects out and held it up to take a better look, it seemed to have tiny metal barbs on the tip, much like a bird hunting arrow. He nodded approvingly and replaced the little trinket into its slot, closed the box and the two walked together down the rest of the hallway.

       “Hello, Tony.” Aurora greeted when she and Clint entered the room that everyone happened to be lounging in.  
       “Hey, there you are, um, how would you like to go to New York tomorrow?” Tony asked a bit flustered. Aurora noted that he was either avoiding the previous day’s events or he was bottling them up for a later date.  
       “I um, have been trying to avoid big cities because of HAF but I know you have your company in Manhattan. I’ve been to New York a few times before and I do suppose it’s time I actually touch the ground again. I suppose I could go with you.” Aurora nodded, nervousness and uncertainty rolling around in her head. _I need to face it at some point._  
       “Good... good. I want you to meet my PA, she's really nice and I think you'll like her.” Tony said rubbing his neck.  
       “Ok…?” Aurora looked confused at why she was supposed to meet this person. “Tony, I know you want to take the parent role but I’d really prefer if you didn't. You sound like I'm a little kid about to meet my new mother or something.” she chuckled, not realizing she hit the nail on the head. She stopped and looked around at the group when no one else laughed. “What?”  
       “Pepper is Tony's girlfriend.” Natasha said.  
       Aurora shook her head, “Eight months Tony, she doesn’t know, does she?”  
       Tony pursed his lips and stared off into the distance. “Not exactly a phone quality conversation. She’s been traveling a lot and so have we, there wasn’t really a good time to meet up.”  
       “In the entirety of eight months, you could have almost had another child.” Aurora pointed out.  
       Tony looked at her disturbed. “The subject and opportunity didn’t really present itself to tell her.”  
       Aurora inhaled deeply with an entertained frown and turned to leave the room to pack a bag for the trip. “I’ll let the funeral director know you want a champagne fountain at your funeral. I suggest she gets a stiff drink before the news.” and with that, Aurora strode out of the room, leaving Tony and the group to their own conversations.

       After stuffing in the whole three outfits she had along with her weapons into the blue duffle bag she had borrowed from the locker area, Aurora was heading to the hanger to meet the rest of the group. Before she could get to the final door, Phil Coulson stopped her with a little smile, he was holding a thin manila folder against his side. Aurora noticed it immediately and knew this was something that was clearly important but they only had limited information for the group.  
       “Aurora.” Agent Coulson said, stopping in front of her.  
       She adjusted her duffle bag strap and smiled kindly at him. “Hello, Phil.”  
       “I have a mission for you.” He handed her the little file which she took and opened to look over.  
       “I'll tell the team…” She paused mid-sentence as she skimmed the seven pages in her hands. “I don't understand, these are the Avengers.” Aurora looked over the only word in the mission summary and her brow furrowed in confusion: ‘Eliminate’ “You want me to target the team?” she glanced up from the papers.  
       “We want to know how SHIELD would have fared if HAF had targeted us.” Phil said.  
       Aurora raised her eyebrows and looked to the side, “Badly. Very badly if HAF used all its resources. But with just me, I just need to prove that I can kill them?”  
       “That’s what we feared from what we have seen of your skills and the videos your companion had kept. Just show exactly how they would be dead, you'll also be required to wear this, so we can see it as well” He gave her a short pendant necklace. “It can be turned on and off, for your convenience.”  
       “Camera?” Aurora nodded and tucked the folder under her arm to free up her hands and put the necklace on.  
       “Yes and good luck, but understand; I hope you fail.” Aurora handed him back the file and with that, Coulson gave her a pat on the shoulder and moved past her to continue on his way down the corridor.  
       Aurora thought a moment before turning around and walking again in the opposite direction of the hanger to where Coulson had gone.

                                                                                         …................................................

       “What took you so long?” Clint asked when she finally boarded the plane.  
       “Sorry, I just forgot something.” She lied, taking her seat next to Steve with a quick smile.  
       “Nice necklace.” Natasha commented.  
       “Thank you, it was a gift from one of the agents.” Aurora grinned and leant back into her seat, ready for the short flight to New York.

                                                                                         …................................................

       They landed outside of New York at Tony's private landing site. “I'll meet you guys at the tower.” Aurora said, passing her bag to Tony.  
       “You're not going to come with us?” Tony said disappointed, taking the duffle bag that she handed him.  
       “I know my way around New York. I'll be there in a couple hours or so, I just want to take a quick look around first.” Aurora said with a small smirk.  
       Tony looked at her and hesitantly nodded, “Alright, I guess it will give me time to break the news to Pepper.”  
       “You still didn’t call her yet so she can get preemptively drunk?” Aurora raised her eyebrow at him.  
       “No, I really should have though." Tony sighed defeatedly.  
       “Go tell your girlfriend you have an illegitimate assassin daughter.” Aurora sighed and playfully hit him in the shoulder.  
       Tony looked more nervous than anything else as he got into the fancy limo that awaited them all. Aurora chuckled to herself and got herself a taxi, intending to beat them to their destination. She stopped the driver a couple blocks away to make sure no one knew she was there yet. Cloaking herself, she snuck into the giant building, she was almost impressed by the security system but she was still able to walk into the building with no trouble. Clearly, the systems could be fooled with some heat absorption and redirecting of light.  
       It took her a while to finally reach the higher floors where Tony worked and lived and looked at a glass door to what she assumed was Tony’s work area. She pressed on the pendant of the necklace Coulson had given her to turn on the camera then held her hand over the panel next to the door to give it some new electric commands.  
       “Identify yourself. You do not have access to this area.” The robotic voice of Jarvis demanded. Aurora ignored it and the door slid open before her.  
       When she stepped into the room she quickly walked over to what appeared to be the main computer where she slipped a tiny chip into one of the system ports. Jarvis’s voice ceased and the computer lit up, granting her full access. Evidently Tony kept much the same security here as he did on the helicarrier and made her home-made crack work just as well as it did there. She quickly rewrote or erased any and all recorded data that proved her existence in the tower.  
       She stuck her hands in her pocket, feeling the small gel covers for her fingertips to hide her physical actions. A few strokes of the keys later and she had entered lines of code into the computer. She nodded to herself and moved away from the elaborate hardware set to wait, she sent a minor notification from Jarvis to Tony to draw him down to the workstations and pulled the chip from the computer. Aurora bent the light to hide herself when Tony made his appearance.  
       Tony seem to walk casually into her view but it turned into a sprint as the computer started to blink red. He punched the code in hard, barely waiting for the door to the lab to open before he was at the computer typing furiously. The screen was lighting up with all types of warnings, the most concerning one was the self-destruct of all data that it claimed it was engaging.  
       Tony was urgently typing, trying to gain access once more to his system. Aurora almost felt a spark of guilt as she flicked her arm down and a dagger fell gracefully into her readied hand, she carefully placed it as close as she dared to Tony’s neck before pulling away and quickly leaving the lab. She glanced at the clock as she exited the floor, she had a few minutes before the false program ended and to get herself an alibi. She rushed down the stairs moving very quickly to the ground floor of the tower, invisible to the world around her. Outside the building she turned the corner, paused and allowed light to hit her normally again, then she spun around and began walking into Stark Tower, nobody the wiser to her previous visit.  
       “Hello.” The girl at the front desk greeted, oblivious to the fact that Aurora had run past her only seconds before.  
       “Hello, my name is Aurora.” She smiled back.  
       “Oh, Mister Stark told me to let you in, when you’re ready just go into the elevator and tell Jarvis to take you the lounge.” The women smiled and gestured to the elevator.  
       “Thank you.” Aurora nodded and headed where she was directed.  
       Once inside Jarvis spoke, “Hello Miss, what is the floor you wish to go to?”  
       “Tony asked me to go to the lounge.” Aurora smiled as the small box she stood in began to move upwards. It was a surprisingly short time until the doors dinged open and Aurora stepped out onto the floor.  
       “Tony?” A redheaded woman came into view from down the hall.  
       “Sorry, I’m Aurora, are you Pepper?” Aurora tilted her head to the side as she walked down the hall.  
       “Yes, I am. Hello, Aurora.” Pepper smiled as they shook hands, “Tony said you would be getting here soon…” She bit her lip, unsure of what to really say.  
       “Where _is_ Tony?” Aurora looked around as Pepper guided her into the lounge.  
       “He got a message about something in the lab and he went to go take care of it.” Pepper shrugged. They both settled onto the two couches in the lounge across from each other. “This might be easier if Tony were here…” the older women shifted, slightly nervous.  
       “Yeah…” Aurora agreed, looking around the room she spotted a plant that she was sure Tony had no part in owning. “Oh, is that a Middlemist Red Camellia?”  
       “You know plants?” Pepper asked surprised.  
       “Of course,” Aurora chuckled, “I figured you were the one taking care of it, Tony doesn’t seem the type.” Pepper laughed and nodded her head in agreeance.


	20. The Nightmare

       The computer screens in the lab suddenly stopped flashing their alerts and Jarvis came back online. “All systems are online.”  
       “What the hell happened?” Tony asked, still panicking from the event.  
       Jarvis paused for a moment to run diagnostics on the systems. “Unknown. Nothing is out of order. However, I will continue to search for anything that may suggest otherwise.”  
       Tony nodded stiffly and, still in a daze, went to check on Pepper, hoping Aurora had shown up by this time. “Maybe she knows what that was.” He muttered to himself as he walked into the lounge where the two women were sitting.  
       “Tony?” Aurora looked at his face with faked concern, worry still creased his forehead.  
       “Guys, are you ok? The tower went haywire or something for a moment and I have no idea what it was.” Tony walked over to them and sat in one of the chairs. “Jarvis is looking into it.”  
       “Nothing happened up here.” Pepper said frowning.  
       “Someone could have followed you here.” Aurora offered. “I didn't feel any energy pulses anywhere though, what happened exactly?”  
       “I got a message from the lab saying something was wrong and when I got there the computers were counting down to self-destruct and purge data. But there's no trace of it on the systems and it just all suddenly stopped as if it were disengaged remotely.” Tony said, feeling like he was crazy.  
       “Well, Aurora and I were just up here talking. If the systems were going to be destroyed, why only in the lab and not the whole tower?”  
       “I don't know, hopefully Jarvis will have more soon.” Tony swallowed the lump in his throat, at last, his pulse was slowing down knowing that Pepper and Aurora were alright. “What were you two talking about?” Aurora and Pepper could both tell he wanted to change the subject due to the situation of Aurora's introduction dawning on the group again.  
       “We were talking about my Middlemist Red Camellia. ” Pepper gestured to a pinkish flower sitting in the centre of the coffee table between the three.  
       “That's pink, not red and I thought it was a rose.” Tony knitted his eyebrows together, “A really expensive rose.”  
       “Tony, this is probably the rarest flowering plant in the world. There are only 2 known examples. One can be found in a garden in New Zealand and the other is situated in a greenhouse in Britain.” Aurora looked at him, “Of course there could be others like this as most uninformed people mistake it for a form of rose like you. Which is probably how it ended up here without anyone noticing.”  
       “I didn't know you knew about flowers.” Tony said trying to process what was just said.  
       “Of course. If caught in any location one must learn how to survive and know which plants are poisonous, edible and which are just... plants.” Aurora shrugged. “Mainly poisonous though… for various reasons.” A silence fell on the room and Pepper shifted awkwardly in her seat.  
       “Ok... Oh! Aurora, I meant to ask you something.” Pepper said suddenly, breaking through the quiet that hung looming in the room. “Are you going to make your last name Stark? Since you are his daughter, though unless you have a last name already… Tony never said.”  
       Tony looked from Pepper to Aurora and opened his mouth to speak but closed it again when he couldn’t think of where to start with his thoughts. Pepper fiddled with her hair as she looked at Aurora half expectantly and partly lost as to what else to talk about.  
       “No, I never had a last name, it was always just ‘Hunter’, we um, didn’t have any official documentation. I technically don’t exist in the eyes of the government.” Aurora stared at the pink flower on the table then shifted her gaze over to Pepper who was still watching her. “I don't need one either, I think.” Aurora hoped Tony wouldn’t make a big deal over this.  
       “I guess that's fine, Fury I think has a documented file of you, but other than that, no, I don’t think you technically have citizenship anywhere. But I am still your dad.” Tony decided against arguing this point further but still tried to maintain parental status on the matter.  
       “Actually I have citizenship in a lot of places… Or I did, now, officially not existing to the government is making everything easier. Either way, I'm not getting you anything for Father's Day.” Aurora told him with a quick and devious smirk.  
       “Do I at least get something for explaining the holidays to you?” Tony half smiled at her.  
       “Maybe I’ll find you something somewhere.” Aurora leant back in her seat grinning.  
       “Alright,” Pepper said, clapping her hands on her lap and standing up. “Aurora, we should go shopping. You need to have some simple girl time since you’ve been trapped aboard that carrier for the last, what, 8 months? You need something to wear other than the few clothes you’ve been given.”  
       “Hey, what about me?” Tony whined.  
       “Oh yes, thanks for reminding me.” Pepper pulled Tony's wallet out to get his credit card. “Thank you and don't wait up, we'll be back late.” Pepper pulled Aurora along, who didn't seem too thrilled to suddenly be going shopping for clothes but looked quite amused that they got Tony's charge card.

                                                                                    …....................................................

       Aurora was used to Victor just giving them clothes when they needed them. Whether it be from age, to blend into crowds in different locations or the most common reason: damage, they always only got what they needed, they were given very few luxuries. Aurora stood in the various stores, constantly switching the look on her face from being impressed to being disturbed by the various choices in style, colours and sizes. She did succeed in finding a well-fitting jacket similar to her leather one but in a black denim material that was lighter in weight. The only not grey or black thing Pepper managed to get for Aurora was an elegant and form-fitting strapless emerald green dress, that Aurora swore never to wear.  
       “Oh, just try it on.” Pepper insisted, holding the green, floor length dress out for the girl to take.  
       “I'll never wear it.” Aurora argued, taking it between her one finger and thumb to hold at a distance like it might ooze the colour onto her current dark outfit.  
       “Just try it on.” Pepper pushed her into a change room.  
       “You're not going to let me out until you see it on me are you?” Aurora said from inside the small room.  
       “That's right.” Pepper said all too happily.  
       “Fine.” Aurora started to slip off her own clothes and pulled on the tight dress. She fought for a moment with the back zipper, contorting her arms around trying to reach it and pull it farther than halfway up. She gave up after a moment and stepped out of the room with a look of shame and disapproval to where Pepper was waiting. “I can't do it up.”  
       Pepper chuckled and motioned for Aurora to face away from her. “Here, turn around.” She then easily did up the dress zipper and smoothed out a wrinkle around the lower back. “There, it fits perfectly.” Aurora turned around to face Ms. Potts once again who smiled happily. “Now these.” Pepper held out a pair of black, three-inch strap heels.  
       “You’re joking right?” Aurora looked at the heels in horror, craning her neck around to different angles to look at the shoes. “I get that women wear them to accentuate the sway of the hips and make the legs look longer but other than using that to manipulate men, I don’t see much use for them. It’s not like they even tried to make them comfortable either.”  
       “Just try them.” Pepper placed them on the floor in front of her and Aurora grudgingly put her feet into the shoes. “Beautiful.”  
       “Ok. That's it, I'm done. No more shopping. Please.” Aurora swiftly left the shoes outside the change room and disappeared inside. Pepper stood there for a moment waiting with an eyebrow raised expectantly before the door opened slowly. “Can you undo the zipper, please?” Aurora asked quietly.  
       Pepper laughed. “I was wondering how long that would take you.”  
       Aurora mumbled something and closed the door again. Silently swearing to herself that she would never wear this dress again as long as she lived. Nevertheless, Pepper bought the dress and shoes even if Aurora tried to leave them in the store.

                                                                                      …................................................

       They got back to the tower where they found the Avengers sitting in the living room area. “Fashion show! I want to see what my money bought.” Tony called with a drink in hand.  
       “Nope, not happening.” Aurora said, quickly grabbing the other bags that Pepper was holding and left the room before the dress could be mentioned.  
       “She doesn't really like shopping.” Pepper told the group as she removed her coat and draped it over the couch beside Tony.  
       “I figured. She's not the girly type, she’s more the ‘I want to kill you type’.” Tony tried to make a joke but everyone groaned at the bad humour. He stood up, wandered over to the bar and poured himself another drink.  
       “Maybe you shouldn’t mention things like that.” Steve warned, looking at the doorway through which Aurora had disappeared.  
       “Oh, it was just a joke Cappy.” Tony sat back down with his glass.  
       “Okay, that's enough for you.” Pepper took the drink from his hand mid-sip.  
       “Oh, come on, Pepp!” Tony slurred. “Aurora!” he smiled at her gleefully when she reentered the room. “Are you alright me saying you’re the ‘I want to kill you’ type and not the girly type.” The room froze.  
       Aurora closed her eyes and shook her head with a small scoff escaping her lips. She opened them again to walk over to the bar and pour a drink which she drained in one go. “Nope, no problem at all.” she emptied another glass. “No point in avoiding a well-known truth.”  
       “Since when do you drink?” Bruce asked.  
“Competition binge drinker, cheating, lying card shark and a Russian Roulette champion. Which is logical or I'd be dead.” Aurora said, sitting down with her third glass. “You don’t really have much of anything good on the Helicarrier, so your confusion is acceptable.”  
       “See? I told you she was fine with it.” Tony said.  
       “Um, okay. What about your powers, won't the alcohol affect them?” Steve asked. “Can you actually even get drunk?”  
       “It depends on if I _want_ to get drunk. I can process the alcohol manually to filter through faster with limited effect, or I can just choose to be drunk with the ability to alter the world on a molecular scale.” Aurora said with a wink. “Either way it passes through my system pretty fast, experimentally enhanced metabolism and all.”  
       “Wow, they have to be related.” Clint shook his head.  
       “I'm going to bed before Aurora gets drunk then.” Bruce said, standing up.  
       “That sounds like a good idea.” Natasha nodded, following Bruce out of the room.  
       “Wait up!” Clint jumped up and took off after the two. Everyone else seemed to agree with not wanting to be in the room with a drunk energy manipulator.  
       “Ah, they just don't know what they're missing.” Tony flopped down on the couch beside Aurora.  
       “Too right.” Aurora grinned and downed the glass she held before looking over at the bottle on the bar counter with longing eyes.  
       “Wait, Russian Roulette?” Tony frowned with his delayed realization.

       Aurora waited until Tony was passed out on the couch before setting down the bottle she had mostly emptied. “On with the plan then.” She quietly headed down the dark hall to Bruce's room and clicked on the camera pendant. She bent what little light there was around her and noiselessly opened the door. Bruce was sleeping on the bed Tony had made specifically due to Bruce’s transformations. She fiddled with the necklace to make sure the camera was positioned correctly.  
       “You paying attention?” Her voice was quiet and barely a whisper. Aurora approached the bed, her hand extended out with a light pulse of white snapping light in between her forefinger and thumb. “This is an electrical wave. It will fry his brain before the Hulk will have time to respond.” She moved her hand so it was only a half an inch away before stepping back and leaving.  
       “I would have taken out Steve next but two assassins in one room is too convenient to pass up.” She had stopped by Clint and Natasha's door and peered inside the room through the crack of the door frame. They were sleeping on the bed wrapped up in each other's arms. Aurora glanced around the room before pulling out an arrow from Clint's quiver, which was laid on the floor on the far side in a hazardous way next to his bow. She walked to the side Natasha was on and drove the arrow hard through the air only to stop it millimetres from Natasha's skin. A single heartbeat could have made her skin touch the sharp metal tip that Aurora noticed was upgraded with the tech she had given Clint. “I would have had enough force to puncture both of their hearts.” she replaced the arrow and left the room, leaving the door open a crack, just as it had been when she arrived.  
       “Good night. I'll take the others out tomorrow.” She clicked the camera off and walked into her room. She sat on the edge of the bed, kicked off her shoes and sighed, then threw herself under the sheets, not bothering to change her clothes. Her lids fell heavily down over her eyes.

                                                                                   …...................................................

       They were in the old HAF base; Aurora and Hunter. Hunter sat on the windowsill in a white lounge, the golden sun lit her form from behind, hiding the devious expression she had in the warm but light shadows of her face. Her legs were crossed and she cocked her head to the side as she looked over at Aurora who was lying with her hands behind her head on a soft white and oak sofa.  
       “You know, you could have just heated the cells in his brain, cooking it. Then he wouldn't have had a chance to do his off-shifting thing. There might still have been a chance the way you did it. We do not know everything about these people.” Hunter lectured calmly. “The assassins though, that was effective enough, I suppose."  
       “I have to show them what I would do through the camera. Anything internal I can’t show, not without actually doing it.” Aurora argued, looking over to her twin self with a blank expression. “Besides, I don't want to hurt them, they’re friends.”  
       This seemed to amuse Hunter for she uncrossed her legs and leant forwards. “Are they? So, tell me, why has nobody mentioned Loki?” Hunter reasoned. “I doubt he was around just because we suddenly appeared. He’s been there for a while.”  
       “That doesn’t mean anything. They're not trying to keep secrets. It isn’t like they’re going to tell me every little thing and about the existence of every person they run into.” Aurora countered.  
       “We'll see. But people really just like lying to you.” Hunter vanished with a lingering grin burned into Aurora’s eye’s memory, leaving Aurora alone. The bright room slowly faded to dark as if dusk were rapidly falling. The walls began to close in and Aurora felt the cold, hard surface of metal against her back where the warm couch used to be.  
       “Where I'm I?” Aurora asked the dark and empty room. “Where did I go?” She sat up and just as she slid off the table, it disappeared as quickly as Hunter had. She suddenly felt as a warm and thick smell she knew all too well hit her face, overpowering her senses and making every breath thick and gasping.  
       She blinked and looked around at the broken bodies of her friends. Victor stood in front of her, his eyes bore into her with an expression of sadness and regret. “No!” she screamed at him, bringing her hands up to cover her face. “You don't care! I hate you!” Victor walked towards her and grabbed her wrists, shaking her violently. “Let go!” She did her best to hit him but she couldn’t break his grip on her arms.  
       “Aurora!” Victor shouted, she took no notice, instead, she used a hot energy force to shove Victor away from her. A loud crash startled her awake and she shot up, sitting in her bed, gasping for air. She stared across at Tony who looked a little worse for wear, sitting in what used to be a wooden dresser. Blood began to push through a large scrape on his elbow. “Hey, hey, are you alright?” Tony asked, a little dazed.  
       Aurora quickly looked around the small, modernly decorated bedroom, blinking repeatedly as she tried to catch her breath and remember where she was. Memories slowly came back to her and she landed her gaze back on Tony and pushed back her messy hair. “I, uh, yeah, are you?” Aurora put her feet to the floor and walked over to help Tony stand up.  
       “There will be bruises, but I’ll live. That must have been some nightmare, we could hear you from the kitchen. Who were you yelling at?” Tony looked at her but part of him already knew the answer.  
       “Victor. He was... ah, we were... they were.” Her chest was tight remembering the dream.  
       “Oh, do you have a lot of these dreams?” Tony said he thought of hugging her but quickly decided against it.  
       “No, I don't usually have dreams at all, let alone bad ones.” Aurora frowned.  
       “Is everything alright? We heard a crash.” Natasha poked her head inside the door with Clint peering over her shoulder.  
       “We didn’t like the furniture, Aurora was helping redecorate. In her sleep.” Tony smiled and took Aurora past them into the hall. “Let's get some food, you must be hungry, it’s almost noon.”

                                                                                    …...................................................


	21. The Consult

       At about one o'clock Aurora found herself lounging on the floor in one of the corners of the tower’s empty training room, keeping herself out of sight with her usual tactics and waiting for Steve to enter so she can continue her private assignment. The room held a very regulated temperature, much more so than the one on the Helicarrier that she usually used, it made laying on the floor that much more comfortable for her. She was accustomed to the rough sleeping cots from the carrier and even the one she was assigned back at HAF was evidently not designed for softness, but rather for ergonomics.  
       Aurora pushed herself into a sitting position and, with her back pressed against the wall, she lazily pulled a small knife from a narrow strap pocket she had attached around her calf. It was only a thin, metal blade, a throwing knife, had it not been for the razor sharp edges that ran the greater length of the sides. It was no more than a couple millimetres thick, nor longer than four inches and it provided its wielder with no handle, only a short space where it could be comfortably held between two fingers in a fist, which she now held it in.  
       She looked at it with a distant expression before sighing, putting her head back against the wall and repeatedly slapping the flat of the blade against the top of her leg lightly. _How long does it take for this guy to get here?_ She grumbled to herself. Aurora decided to preoccupy herself by thinking back to the dream she had earlier. She wasn’t one to have dreams, or if she was, she immediately forgot them when she woke up, never to regain the memory of her experiences.  
        _I was talking to myself. Only it wasn’t_ Me _, it was a different Me… I, or rather, She, sat on the windowsill looking at me like she was amused… Or plotting something?_ Aurora furrowed her brow trying to remember the encounter, many of the smaller details had escaped her but she could still recall the majority of the events. _I know there were better ways to kill Bruce, more efficient ways, faster ways. I can think of a hundred more even after the deed has been done. I knew that. So did She._  
       Aurora had subconsciously stopped tapping the knife against her leg when she fell deeper into thought. Her arm was resting on her thigh as her hand held the blade limply in her grasp, where it dangled inches above the floor. She stared off into the ceiling expressionlessly.  
        _She mentioned they were all lying to me, that they’re keeping information from me on purpose. Though, I’m doing the same to them. Everything I know about HAF, Victor, Greg, the team… WOLFE… If they knew, then what would happen? But I can trust them, can’t I?_  
      _“Never trust. Never care. Everything starts to break apart when you start to care about something. Don’t care and don’t trust, then you won’t get hurt.”_ A new voice inside her head whispered.  
       Aurora furrowed her brow and spoke aloud into the empty room. “I remember. But things are different now. Everything has changed.”  
      _“Have they? Do you really think that? If you full heartedly and truly believe that, then I will go. But if there’s even a trace of uncertainty… You need me because you_ know _you can trust_ me _.”_ The voice sounded again and Aurora could hear an empowering confidence in its tone. Confidence she remembered she had before the aftermath of Hong Kong. Now everything was grey, no choice or decision was black and white anymore. She wasn’t sure of anything.  
       Aurora bowed her head and tightened her grip on the blade in her hand, “I… am not certain. But I trust myself. I have to, I’m all I truly know. But I-” She quickly cut her sentence short as Steve finally strode in through the door to her right, towel over his shoulders and water in hand.  
       She watched Steve’s workout intently, quietly judging and determining his heart-rate from her hidden location. The time for self-reflection was over and her assignment demanded her attention.  
      _“A simple dagger throw could kill him. He would bleed out quickly, but the cameras, Jarvis would notice if you don’t manually disrupt his feed first. A deed you must leave the room for first.”_ The voice whispered in her head.  
      _I know, but I don’t need to leave the room to complete the mission._ Aurora countered.  
        _“No. So we must use his own weaknesses against him. He’s stronger than us, but we’re smarter and more powerful.”_ The voice was weighing the options.  
        _He’s quick to trust. An exploitable fault. Contact could jolt his heart, but there is still a_ chance _of survival._ Aurora cocked her head to the side and observed Steve more closely, considering what she could exploit and gain the upper hand with.  
        _“He can’t see us, we already have the upper hand. A simple burst rupture in his internal carotid artery would cause him to bleed out quickly with his quickened pulse. Better yet, burst rupture the vertebral arteries between his C1 and C2, such an injury isn’t found easily and he would die long before they even knew where to start.”_ The voice sounded almost excited and her mind was filling with the exact way to do such an attack.  
        _A non-lethal way of killing him. I need to show Fury, there is no physical proof that it is possible without the obvious side effects of Steve being dead._ Aurora growled back, returning to the idea of the dagger she was flipping gracefully around with her fingers.  
        _“Do you hear yourself? That doesn't make sense.”_ She could hear the smirk in the internal voice.  
        _I have a plan. I’ll have to settle for it..._ Aurora twisted her face into a crooked frown and returned her focus to Steve’s physical presence in the room.  
        _“... Settle… I see.”_ And with those disappointed words, the voice quieted and faded from her mind.  
       Aurora sighed, slipped the blade back into its slot on her leg and rose to her feet at last. She exited the exercise room, flipped her body around the corner and, with her back to the wall, she slid down onto the floor where she allowed herself to become visible again as if she were waiting outside silently the whole time. Rising to her feet once more, she rolled her shoulders and turned on the camera within the necklace. She turned herself back into the training room and walked in casually.  
       “Hey, Aurora.” Steve looked up from his push ups as he heard her footsteps.  
       “Hey, Steve.” Aurora smiled quickly and looked at the section of practice weapons to chose from. She couldn't stop training just because she wasn't at HAF anymore.  
       “Do you mind helping me?” Steve asked, interrupting her thoughts.  
       “Sure, what you want me to do?” She turned to face him, meeting his blue eyes she wanted to tell him that she had been planning on killing him just before she entered the room. Half to see if he would take it as a normal jest and partly to find out how long it would take him to realize afterwards that she fully did intend to prove his death would occur.  
       “Can you sit on my back while I finish my push ups?”  
       She nodded at his request as she had done this with Lucas a great number of times when Amelia was away. Though typically she had to also include a great deal of extra weight for it to begin to be useful in improving his abilities.  
       “This ok?” She had settled herself on his upper back facing his front and crossed her legs tightly against herself.  
       “Perfect.” Steve said as he continued. Aurora looked around the room then down to the back of the Captain's head, looking at his neck to gauge his heart rate, it was quick enough to be to her liking. Sifting the camera into position, she redirected the light around the two then slid her little knife out of its sheath once again. She smoothly brought her hand down, using her other muscles to hide and compensate for the force. The shining tip was stopped only millimetres away from the back of the soldier’s neck where she knew perfectly that the two most important vertebrate resided there.  
       She hovered the blade above his skin for a moment longer before pulling away and soundlessly placing it back in its rightful place. She let the light around them flow normally again and continued to make other things in the room disappear and reappear at will, simply to lessen the suspicious nature of the event to the AI that overlooked the Tower.  
       A few moments passed before Bruce walked into the room with a confused look on his face. “Guys? Jarvis said you two were suddenly nowhere to be seen in the building.” Steve stopped on the upward beat of a push-up and looked over at the scientist.  
       “Oh, sorry, that was me. I was just playing around.” Aurora said with an innocent flash of a smile.  
       “That makes sense.” Bruce nodded then left them alone again.  
       “I probably scared Tony.” Aurora smirked and looked down at Steve, “Did you still need me for this or anything else? I was thinking of heading to my room for a while but if you need me, I can easily stay.”  
       “No, that's fine.” Steve said as she slipped off his back, letting him stand up. “Thanks, I usually have to do two hundred before I start my workout.”  
       “No problem, I used to do it for Lucas when Amelia was away.” Aurora said, thinking back to the days when killing someone was easy, now it was conflicting.  
       “You must miss them a lot.” Steve looked at her with sympathy. “I know what it's like to watch friends die, maybe not quite like you, but on the battlefields. If you ever need to talk I'll listen.”  
       Aurora smiled sweetly at his offering. “Thank you, Steve, I’m dealing with it a lot better now, besides it's not the fact that they died at all or that they were killed in front of me. It's the _way_ they were killed.” Aurora emphasized the word in her statement, “But I know I have to keep moving on from the trauma of that. I’ll let you know if I need an ear.”  
“Always ready. Anyone here will listen when you need them too.” Steve lightly touched her shoulder before she left him behind in the training room.  
       She vanished from sight in the hallway when she was alone, “Okay, Coulson, listening? I find with Steve's trusting nature that I would get close to him before killing him to have a more precise and controlled strike. If not, then during one of his workouts I could easily use a throwing dagger and he would bleed out quickly. Messy, but it would be a quick and effortless kill.” She looked around, clicked off the camera and returned to sight as she continued down the hall. “Now, just Thor.” Aurora said to herself. Suddenly she stopped with a small face of disdain, “How am I supposed to kill a god?” She shook her head with a huff and went on to find the Thunderer.  
  
       Aurora found Thor on the balcony, he often watched the city from the height of the tower. She stood across the room in the shadows near the wall, inspecting her new target. Crossing her arms she shifted her weight onto one foot and pivoted her other around as it balanced on the toe. She noticed her fidgeting and placed her foot back down only to cross her arms and start to tap her lip with her thumb.  
       “How the hell I'm I supposed to prove I can kill him without actually killing him? Isn't he immortal? Could he even die?” Aurora kept her voice below a whisper, even as she was hiding it from Jarvis once again. Though she was confident that Thor could not hear her so she didn’t bother to block it from him.  
       She cocked her head to the side. “I would assume a full dismantling of the man could make it difficult to reform if that’s how he works. Or maybe that would just be a little nuisance to him and it won’t have the required effect of him staying dead... It’s probably frowned upon to just ask though.” She sighed and leant against the wall behind her. _But they can die just like mortals in mythology._  
       Aurora’s thoughts froze when she suddenly heard a gentle breathing next to her and a dark form move just barely into her field of view. She pushed down the annoyance that rose to her mind at having so easily been snuck up on.  
       “Hello again, my dear.” Loki whispered in her ear. She didn't need to turn her gaze to the side to know it was him.  
       “Hello.” Aurora modified her sound trap to include Loki and exclude Thor so she could raise her voice to near normal levels. “To what do I owe the pleasure to this time? Twas so long ago, our last meeting. I figured you became disinterested.” She rolled her head against the wall to look at the tall man. He was smirking. _He knows he snuck up on me. A risky move, or is this his confidence in thinking I’m too weak to harm him?_  
       “Not disinterested, just observing. However, I was passing by and I couldn’t help but overhear your miss-information. I needed to correct it.” He nodded towards Thor as Aurora raised her eyebrow with half interest and let her eyes look him up and down before turning her head back towards the room.  
       “What information is that?” She didn't like when her data was wrong since it could cost her her life if she really was going to kill him. But currently, she had such limited information on Thor’s existence as an immortal or mortal god that she did, in fact, need to know what Loki had to say.  
       “My dear, Thor is not invincible, he can be killed.” Loki looked at the profile of her face as he spoke with a playful grin.  
       “Good.” Aurora stated matter-of-factly, then shifted her jaw back and forth in thought. “You’ve been observing, so you’re aware of what I’ve been asked to do, yes? How much I wonder?” She wanted to know what he knew, she couldn’t help but love these games he played.  
       She heard a light laugh rumble through his chest, “Tsk, tsk. The game's no fun if I show my hand.”  
       “Two can play this game then.” She said, grinning coolly.  
       “Hmm? Whatever do you mean?” Loki asked curiously, he actually held an interest in her words.  
       Aurora let a deep chuckle roll through her, mirroring what the man beside her had done. “Well, didn’t you just say the game's no fun if I were to show you my hand?” Her tone changed to what Loki could only tell was the smallest amount of disappointment as she continued, “Still, I was only curious if you had any ideas on how to approach this last target.” She wanted to test Loki’s intent on the other god. A vicious attack out of anger, a detailed or thoughtful attack out of resentment or a quick and careless death out of disconcern or belief in him undeserving of something more. She, however, knew the last one was not an option, Loki was far too complex for an act so uninterested.  
       “Oh my darling, you’re a clever one, you'll figure it out.” He smiled over at her.  
       “I know I will, it's just hollow when there's no end result.” she sighed and rested her head lazily on her shoulder, “I miss when I had real missions, real goals, and a real end result. Black and white.”  
       Loki looked at her curiously. “One day you'll have your real missions again. I promise.” He then took a long breath and, with a finger, he tapped the wall next to him as he turned to leave. “Until next time, my dear.”  
       Aurora felt his presence disappear behind her and leant forward to look to where her acquaintance had vanished. “I need to learn the way he does that.”  
       She pushed her shoulders back and stretched her torso out before focussing her attention on the other Asgardian. She couldn't help but compare the two, while Thor was obliviously strong, he lacked the mental capability she desired. Loki however, did have the mind to entertain her, but could he keep up in a fight? Her mind wandered back to Zachery, he could almost keep up with her in both, but he always came up short. In her heart, she only craved to find an equal.  
       Thor was now walking off the balcony towards the elevator when Aurora finished her stretching and clicked the camera on. With a huff, she followed after her target. “This is a pointless game.” She indifferently slipped a medium sized throwing knife out of its slip on her back and effortlessly threw it.  
       The camera watched as the dagger, invisible to Thor, missed his neck by millimetres and silently thudded into the wall in front of him. Only a fraction of anything different and the blade would have embedded itself into the man who continued on his way to the glass elevator, oblivious to the event that nearly befell him. Aurora went and pulled the knife out of the wall before shutting off the camera. Deciding she needed a good workout to ease her mind, she returned to the training room to find it empty and began her usual rigorous athletics.


	22. The Broken Wire

      Aurora was wandering around the tower exploring when she felt a small pull under her skin. The sensation was familiar, but it irritated her to no end. She stopped in the long corridor and twisted her upper body and arms around carefully in order to pinpoint the epicentre of the discomfort. Though however hard she tried she was unable to do so, and with a frown, she surrendered to the hallway towards Tony’s laboratory, in hopes of using some of his equipment to find her problem.  
      She purposefully strode up to the glass to Tony’s lab and peered through the tall windows to observe the two scientists within. They seemed to be working on some larger construct that simply sat on the floor. Tony with his head under a desk, was fiddling with something out of view as Bruce had his head and arms up to his torso inside the mystery device.

      With a wry smile, Aurora tapped on the glass, causing Bruce to look up with a look of confusion written across his face. When it registered to him who stood behind the door, vaguely gesturing at the obstruction before her he looked around frantically for Tony.

      “Tony?” Bruce saw his back from where he was standing and called out to him. “Tony!”

      Tony slide out from under the desk, “What now?” He huffed at being interrupted. Bruce pointed to the door before returning to his work on the internals of the object before him. Tony rolled his eyes expecting to see Pepper waiting to scold him. To his relief, he was able to immediately smile when he saw Aurora waiting for him, “Oh, Jarvis could you let Aurora in?” 

      “Yes, sir.” The Robotic voice answered as the door slid open.

      Aurora stepped in and glanced up at a camera Jarvis used, “Thank you.” 

      “Hello, Aurora.” Bruce greeted her without looking up. 

      “Hello, Bruce.” Aurora said as she wandered over to the computer desk. 

      Tony stood as his smile dipped into a frown, expecting his greeting. “What? No hello for me?”

      “You have no courtesy.” She told him matter-of-factly. 

      “But I opened the door for you.” He gestured to the door in an overly dramatic motion. 

      “No, your Brainbot did.” Aurora gave him a sideways grin and clasped her hands behind her back to pass off her words as a tease. 

      “Maybe!” Tony paused trying to find an argument for this. “But I asked him too!” He grinned triumphantly.

      “You were too lazy to do it yourself.” Aurora shook her head smiling. 

      “She’s telling the truth.” Bruce interjected, not bothering to stop his work.

      Tony went quiet looking between the other two in the room. “Quiet. What did you need?” He changed the topic quickly.

      Aurora snickered, “Don’t give me that look.” 

      Tony straightened up, slightly offended by the unexpected remark, “What look?” 

      Aurora mirrored his actions and pushed her shoulders back and stood more properly like him then started to mimic his deep voice, “The ‘What was it you needed in the big science room little girl?’ look.” 

      “I didn’t!” Tony said defensively and crossed his arms, which of course, Aurora did as well.

      “You did.” Bruce smirked, still focused on his work.

      Tony glared at Bruce, “No, I did say ‘quiet’ though.” 

      Aurora sighed and relaxed her posture again, “Well back to the reason why I’m actually here: it came to my attention some time ago that you have a holographic x-ray device. Is this true?” 

      Tony frowned at her sudden change in tone, evidently done with teasing, “Erm, it is...” 

      Aurora nodded once and with a quick glance around the room, turned to the most likely target of her needs. “I will be requiring its usage then.” 

      Tony’s eyebrows only got closer together as he was having a hard time frowning more than he already was. “Wait.” His voice caused Aurora to temporarily pause and half turn and look at him, waiting for him to continue, “What do you need it for?”

      “X-Rays…” Aurora said it slowly as if he were a child. 

      “Tony.”  Bruce interrupted the two yet again, this time he was standing and stretching his sore limbs as he looked down into his project.

      “What!?” Tony snapped, clearly annoyed with the continued interjections. 

      Bruce looked over at him and blinked once, “I need to connect the wires… where are the-” Tony didn’t even need to think before he gestured to the bench with one hand and rubbed his temples with the other.

      “What are you two making?” Aurora asked as she steps around Tony and over to Bruce. She glanced around him, craning her neck to see the well laid out nest of wires within. “May I?” 

      “Um…” Bruce leaned back slightly, giving Aurora enough space to look closer. “Just a little toy project, nothing special really.”

      Aurora moved forward and pointed to a couple of wires in need of a wire cap. “These two?” She pinched the exposed wire ends together at the scientist’s confirmation and after a moment she removed her hand. Bruce was able to see the metal of the wires had been fused into a single smooth one and only required some simple electrical tape to cover the exposed bits, “Any others?” she asked, looking expectantly at him.

      Bruce nodded his approval at the connection she made, easily arriving at the conclusion that it was better than he could have done, “No… Thank you.” He flashed her a quick smile.

      Aurora stepped back and wandered around the contraption, gazing at it with an expression like she was judging it for taking up space. “If you wanted less energy consumption that keeps the same RPM. I'd change that to…” she spun around on the spot, frantically looking around the room for more wire. Finding some rather easily, she studied it for a moment before bending it to display a new length and holding it out to Bruce for him to see. “That length. Also, the wire should be made of something purer.”

      Tony watched her with his hand on his chin, nodding along to her suggestion.  

      Aurora ignored him however, as she continued with her attention on Bruce,  “These wires are copper, and there’s nothing wrong with that, cheap, efficient. However, I’d use gold if you worry about corrosion or maybe even silver if you want an optimal conduction…” 

      Bruce thought for a moment, “Hmm, that would cause an imbalance with the power source output through the other wires, that could cause overheating and then that’s not helpful. I don’t want to replace all of them at this point.”

      “Lazy scientist.” Aurora muttered as she turned away from the structure. Her speedy change in attitude caused Bruce to frown from her words, she looked to Tony instead. “Do you by any chance, have a large-ish piece of pure silver laying around? If I can get my hands on some and get close enough to each wire I might be able to change the composition and the makings of the wires. A lot of energy is needed so I would have to do it outside… Or you could just ignore me and continue with what you were doing. It's just a small amount of energy you'd be saving anyway. I wouldn't worry about it.” She shrugged, “It’s your choice.” then wandered over to the X-Ray machine that brought her into the lab in the first place, started it and leant against the desk as it booted up the system.

      “Well, I have to admit you know a lot about this.” Tony said, sitting down his desk chair and spun to face Aurora with his hands draped over the sides of the armrests.

      “Yeah.” Aurora said, seemingly disinterested as she turned around and began to poke the buttons on the screen. She then proceeds to stand in the scanning area and closed her eyes. Tony frowned at the settings and rolled his chair over to the computer, quickly stopping the machine. “What are you doing?” Aurora frowned, opening one of her eyes to peer at him. 

      “Adjusting the settings so you don’t get hit with a lethal amount of rays.” Tony muttered as he started the machine again. Aurora only closed her eye, seeming somewhat dissatisfied with the lowered power settings.

      Once the X-Ray finished she stepped out and move to the life-sized hologram that was forming. “Interesting.” 

      Bruce frowns looking up at the finely laid out net of thin blue lines that hovered just above the bone forms. Upon his closer inspection, it appeared as if they were positioned where they would be just under the skin but far enough under that it could not be seen even in the thinnest areas of skin. “What is that? It’s still there. We took an X-Ray of you when you landed on Fury’s desk that one time, we thought it was a glitch in the readings because of your powers.” 

      Aurora shook her head slightly, “No, it’s the wire net that Victor implanted under my skin…” She trailed off as she looks closer at the hologram, manipulating the limbs and full form, she moves it to look closer at the back. 

      Tony felt the rage boil up, “He surgically implanted wires under your skin?” New forms of abuse seemed to come to light every time she spoke. 

      “More or less.” She seemingly did not care as she looked at the wires of her torso. “They balance out the energy so it is focused more away from my heart. It helps to slow the black fluid process a bit and allows me to undertake more energy. The only issue is that they are quite easily broken and often need mending after such a large amount of energy goes through me or if I get a wound in the wrong place. They’re actually one of the most useful things I have from him.” Aurora moves studiously down the back, down the left leg and then up the opposite leg, slowly progressing onto the arm she was concerned with. 

      “What are they made of? I get that they would get stressed when you move, but wouldn’t Victor have taken that into consideration?” Bruce inquired, folding his arms and shifting his weight.

      The question pulled Aurora’s attention away from the hologram and over to the scientist. “They’re made of a mixture of titanium and a few other metals, and contain a small amount of adamantium.” She gestured vaguely around in frustration with an upset expression along with her next words. “But you wouldn’t be able to tell since these little bastards like to break so easily!”

      Tony furrowed his brow. “Wait, why only a small amount of adamantium? Using more would have stopped them from breaking so easily, and that would have saved time and effort repairing them.”

      Aurora smiled wryly and went back to investigating the hologram next to her. “Well, no point in wasting money and resources on something that might not work or isn’t worth the trouble.”

      “I see…” Tony scrunched his face in disapproval over the reason.

      Stopping on a tiny section of her arm Aurora made a discontented sound when she found the broken wire. “Oh, that’s a bad place.” She held out her corresponding arm and pinpoints the location on it, digging her nail in lightly to make a small mark. She glanced around the lab once again and grabs a pen only to throw it back on the table when it doesn’t work. Bruce lightly tossed her a pen from his shirt pocket and, with an appreciative “Thank you.” She caught it with no effort and precisely traced on her arm the wire network was located underneath. Once done she tossed the pan back, however, she let it hover in the air with a slightly amused smirk when Bruce missed it on his first attempt to catch it. “I noticed the flux in energy transfers quite a while ago, but I didn’t have the means at the time to look into it.” 

      “There’s the X-Ray on the carrier you could’ve used.” Tony pointed out, still a bit upset over the fact itself of the wires. 

      “Yes, but I wasn’t too concerned about it at that time.” She glanced at the mark on her arm, “Alright, thanks for the X-Ray.” She turns to head out the door before Tony jumps up from his chair and steps in front of her, blocking her way.

      “Whoa, whoa, whoa! What’s your plan now? You have to fix that break don’t you?” Tony asked concerned.

      Aurora paused, “Yes, and that requires surgery. Which I can perform myself.” She gestures to the door behind the man, “Right now.” 

      Bruce steps away from the machine on the floor and walks up to Aurora to place a hand on her shoulder., “I could do that instead if you wanted… You don’t need to do it yourself.” 

      Aurora waved him off with a half-hearted smile, “I’m fine, I’ve done it before.” 

      “Did you want a numbing agent or anything then?” He started to step towards a cabinet off to the side of the room, “You’re about to do a surgical procedure on yourself.”

      Aurora shifts uncomfortably, her eyes widen slightly as she remembered her last experience with someone giving her a needle. “No, I’ll be fine.” 

      “Are you alright?” Tony asked, noticing the shift in her.

      “The last time I got a needle from someone claiming to be our father, he stole our abilities and… Well...” She looked to the door wondering if she would be chased if she bolted. 

      Tony looked down, “Right, sorry...” Bruce looked to his feet as well, both unsure how to try and help. 

      “So I’ll be fine without it, besides my body would burn it off too quickly anyway. I’ll call you if I need any help with it though.” With that, she was out the door and out of sight.

      “She makes me worry sometimes.” Bruce said, returning to the machine. 

      “She makes me worry all the time.” Tony frowned looking half-heartedly at the contraption he should be working on. 

      “That’s because you’re her father.” Bruce smirks as he goes back to his work. 

      Tony points at Bruce, “You be quiet. I don’t need a lecture.”  Tony got back to his position under the desk but now the wires here seemed too similar to the ones under his daughter’s skin, making it hard to concentrate. He sighed and set back to work nonetheless.    
  


 

      It was Pepper who had unfortunately walked into the kitchen which contained Aurora with her arm, cut open just above the elbow, resting on the island counter. A blood-covered pocket knife sat next to her along with a bowl filled with a few bloody cloths inside. Aurora herself was looking at the wound with great concentration and, with her opposing hand covered in blood, she was gently pulling on a thin silver wire that was not much thicker than a thread.

      “Oh my God!” Pepper quickly spun away from the scene, her hand flying up to her mouth in shock.

      Aurora looks up confused and suddenly winced as she accidentally tugs a bit too hard on the wire she’s holding. “Sorry?” 

      “Um...” Pepper looks up to the ceiling, still facing away from her. “Do you have to do that here? In the kitchen?” 

      “This was the only place with good light.” Aurora looks back to her arm as innocently as she can. 

      “The lab?” Pepper sighed, mentally swearing if she was going to be forgetful like Tony, she was going to move out. 

      “I'd rather not listen to two science nerds bicker and whine about each other.” Aurora gently pulled on the metal strand again.

      Pepper sighed, “That makes sense… But here?” She glances over her shoulder with caution, “Doesn’t that hurt?” 

      “Of course it does.” Aurora said nonchalantly. 

      Pepper turned around wincing at the sight, “I hate to ask, but on a scale of 1 to 10?”

      Aurora paused thinking it over, “Probably about a 4 or maybe a 5, not too bad.” 

      “Your idea of 10 then must be pure agony.” Pepper grimaced. 

      “I guess I've grown up with a high pain tolerance, yes, but I've only ever felt up to a 9.” She returns to the open wound on her arm. “10 is the point in which I would just give up.” 

      “You would give up at 10?” Pepper asked a bit worried. 

      “At my 7 most people would be passed out or dead from the shock.” Aurora frowned at the wire like it wasn’t doing what she wanted, “Hmmm...” she pulled the wire a bit harder and immediately winces, “Ow! 7 that was a 7.” Pepper shudders a bit as drops of blood run down her arm and pool at her elbow. Aurora catches the movement out of the corner of her eye and looks up at her. “Could you do me a favour?”

      “I can try.” Pepper bit her lip hoping it wasn’t to help with this.

      “Could you go and get Tony? I need his help for a minute.” Aurora paused and squinted her eyes in consideration over his potential reaction to the situation, “If you describe the situation and he pales, ask Bruce. Thanks.” 

      “I’ll do that.” Pepper quickly fled the room. 

      Aurora sighed lightly and scratched her cheek only to leave a crimson smear behind. Picking up a relatively unstained cloth, she cleaned up the blood on the counter a little and finished by putting it into the bowl with the other used ones.

      “I could have called Tony and given him video reference.” Jarvis informed her.

      Aurora chuckled, “And keep Pepper awkwardly standing there making small talk? No, she needed to leave without herself feeling bad about it. She’s too nice for her own good.”

      “I see.” Jarvis responded, “You have quite the knowledge on human emotions.”

      “Thank you.” Aurora smirked, she liked Jarvis. 

      Tony appeared at the door a second later and froze, “Oh.. Oh wow. That’s just as bad as Pepper said.” He swallowed slowly, his eyes locked on the blood smears on the counter and on her arm. She had managed to keep the area of effect relatively contained, considering the situation. 

      “Huh?” Aurora looks down at her arm, it was still open wide with blood draining from it onto the surface, she frowned, “I guess so... Yeah, I can see how this could look bad to some people…” 

      “What did you need?” Tony asked, slowly approaching.

      “I needed you to hold open the cut so I can actually see where all the wires are. I was thinking of just piecing it and then tying a string to it to hold it open, but I started to see how that could become problematic later… With one hand.” Aurora half smirked, held up her blood covered left hand and wiggled her fingers at him. The blood had mostly dried on the majority of her skin, leaving it somewhat uncomfortable to move.

      Tony paled slightly, “So... You need me to pull it open…?” 

      “Yes, if that’s too much for you then I can get Bruce… if it’s too much for him, I’ll use the string idea.” Aurora smiled encouragingly, trying not to scare him off. Of course, however, it may end up having the opposite effect, so she turned her face back to her arm.

      “No, no, I think I can manage.” He came around beside her and glanced around, “Do you have gloves?”

      “I’m not worried about infections or anything like that, I can burn those out when they happen. For you though… No, I don’t. You’ll have to settle for just washing your hands really, really well. You have no cuts or anything like that, right?”

      Tony inspected his hands thoroughly. “No, I don’t think so.”

      “Good. Just… don’t drink any of my blood.” Aurora wrinkled her nose at the thought.

      Tony’s eyes widen as his mouth opens and closes a few times before he finds the words, “Why the  _ hell _ would I do that?” 

      “Just thought I’d mention it, but my blood is toxic, which you might have figured out from the blood tests you probably did while I was still out that time. But whatever, don’t even let it near your face… Are you positive about the cuts? There aren’t gloves up here.”

      “I'm sure… But you have blood on your cheek.” He vaguely gestured to his own face where she had a smudge on hers. 

      Aurora frowned and stared at him, “It’s  _ in _ me. If it’s outside of me it doesn’t matter either. Just hold it open, two fingers on either side would work, just don't pull too hard, it isn’t nearly as deep as it looks and you'll tear the wires more. Also, for both our sakes, don't touch the wires…”

      Tony fidgeted his hands before settling into a chair next to her and placing two fingers on either side of the cut. The blood seeping around his fingers and the wires emerging from the opening were covered in blood. He grimaced, looking away from her arm and to her face which was aimed down at her arm.

      Aurora grit her teeth, “More.” Tony watched as her as she winced again and put a small amount more force into his hands. “More... Good.” She exhaled in relief when the stinging pain subsided. “Ok.” She gently started pulling on the wire towards its other end, they were only a few millimetres apart, but that gap was enough to stop her from fusing them.

      Tony notices her eyes flickering away from her arm and over to him. “What is it?” 

      Aurora paused for a moment before returning her gaze to her arm. “Nothing.” 

      “Ok, what are you looking at?” Tony follows her once again wandering gaze to his chest where the arcreacter is “The arcreactor?” 

      Aurora swallowed, still looking at it. “You have no idea how tempting it is to just drain you of that.” 

      Tony’s eyes widen, he had to stop himself from moving back as he is still holding her skin open. “Um. The energy in this is probably more than what you got from Mjölner… Wouldn't that kill you?”

      “Probably… But to drain it slowly, that amount of energy,” She shook her head and laughed lightly, making an effort not to make her hand twitch, “It would feel amazing.” 

      Tony tensed, “And would kill me… But that’s beside the point. “ He paused, unsure of what to do. “I could probably make you one if…?” He offered with a raised eyebrow.

      Aurora bit her lip and looked back to her arm, “No matter how much I want one, that’s probably a bad idea.” 

      Tony nodded in understanding, “Ok.” mentally telling himself however much he wanted to make her one and no matter how much she wanted one, it just shouldn’t happen. 

      “I almost did drain some of it when I first saw yours.” Aurora said.

      Tony frowned. “If it’s so tempting, why didn’t you?”

      Aurora looked up from her work. “Something told me not to.”

      “Like a little voice or…?” 

      Aurora laughed at him, carefully not to move too much again. “No, I felt I would regret that decision later!” She smiled as she continued a bit quieter, “Now I realize I really would have.” She looked back to her arm to continue moving the two ends of the wire closer together. 

      “So your intuition told you not to kill me?” Tony smiled, he wouldn’t admit it, but he was proud of her, despite everything she wasn’t turned into a cold-hearted person.

      “Pretty much.” She was finally able to touch the wires together and, shifting the position of her fingers, pinched the two ends between her thumb and forefinger, the same way she did with Bruce’s construct and melded the molecules of the wires back into a smooth formation. She let go and inspected her work. “Ok, you’re done. Thank you.” Aurora gave him a smile and stretched out her cramping fingers.

      Tony grimaced again and carefully pulled his hands away. “Jarvis turn on the sink.” He stood up quickly and moved over to the sink with his hands out in front of himself, he then started washing his hands very thoroughly. “So why is it that you can walk through walls and get shot by arrows and that doesn't affect the wires, but when one does break you have to cut open the area and fuse them that way?”

      Aurora pinched the skin together, sealed it shut and then proceeding to wipe up the blood on the counter, which required yet more towels. “Because when I phase through an object I increase the spaces between particles so that I can merge with the other object. It hurts like hell… But still. If a wire is broken by say, overcharging by energy or someone does manage to get me with a knife or something, then I would have to see the wires to ensure they fuse together properly. If they don't, they might as well stay broken. I use similar techniques to heal gashes too, if I can get the skin close to the position I want it, I can make a merged fusion between the two sides, kind of like cold welding, I guess, but also like hot welding.”

      “I see…” Tony turned to see the bloody towels in the bowl and all the blood still on the counter. “You lost a lot of blood… Are you alright?” He peered into her face from his place in front of the sink.

      Aurora chuckled. “I’ve been through worse, you may return to your work now.” Tony nodded and shut off the sink. He then slowly walks out, proud of her, but she always she was concerning. Aurora continued to clean up the blood, this was a place food was prepared after all. 


	23. The Sleepwalker

      “It's raining. Come inside,” Pepper persuaded as she stood in the doorway to the balcony of the tower, “you'll catch a cold.” A loud crack of thunder echoed through the air and she could see the rain wall closing in on the Tower from the north. Aurora had immediately escaped to the balcony when the storm system rolled into the area. At first, the light rain that fell was calm and it seemed as if the main cloud would miss them, however that wasn’t the case as the wind changed course and pushed towards them.

      Suddenly, while Aurora stood leaning over the railing looking at the ground below her, she fidgeted and tapped on the glass railing walls and spun around as the heavy rain wall slammed into the tower, immediately pelting her skin and soaking through her light clothing. Pepper took a step back inside the doorframe to avoid getting wet and decided it was up to her to convince Aurora to come back inside, the team already knowing that her mind was made up. Nothing that could be said to Aurora to get her back inside despite the downpour.

      “I have to stay outside during lightning storms,” Aurora said, her voice muffled somewhat by the white noise around her. “I attract lightning strikes.” She glanced at the sky when a flash of sheet lightning caught her attention, “You could be hurt just standing out here with me.” Aurora frowned and looked around for something to use to tie up her wet hair. It was beginning to drip into her eyes and blur her vision.

      “Do not worry. I shall keep her company for now.” Thor stepped outside to join Aurora who took a seat on the ledge in defeat. He was soaked in a matter of seconds, Aurora shook her head, there was very little reason why Thor would have made the offer.

      “Fine.” Pepper grudgingly closed the door on the two.

      “Thor, didn't you have to meet with Jane or something?” Aurora questioned with the edge of her lip curling up at the corner. Thor would now have to leave a trail of puddles to change his clothes or simply make a larger trail through the entire building. If she weren’t trapped out here she would have liked to see Tony’s reaction.

      “Yes, but I do not wish for you to suffer alone.” Thor looked at her with sympathetic eyes.

      “No, I'm quite used to it. I had to do it all the time before.” Aurora waved him off.

      “I wish I could stop it, but I hate disrupting the natural patterns.” Thor said, looking at the stormy night.

      “Thor, go. You want to go to Jane, so go do so. I like storms anyway.” Aurora said with an encouraging smile, hoping he would just leave.

      Thor hesitated, “If you are sure?”

      “Yes, now go.” Aurora stood, slid the door open quickly and practically pushed Thor through and back into the Tower. “Finally!” Aurora leaned out on the balcony once again. “Hell with disrupting the natural pattern, you do it all the time in battle.”

      “They are also connected with his emotions.” A voice lightly said beside her. She looked to see Loki standing there a couple feet away under what little protection from the rain that there was. Aurora did her best hiding her annoyance at his sudden appearance and his uncanny ability to continually sneak up on her. “But no, he can't get rid of one little storm for you apparently.”

      “Yes... and thanks for your help with my little assignment earlier, I ended up just throwing a knife at him though.” Aurora said tiredly, she didn’t wish to dwell on a task with no reward. The night ahead of her was going to be long and full of irritation due to the lightning.

      “Not so creative anymore?” Loki questioned, watching her wearily appearance.

      “Got bored. No real goal. If I really wanted him dead I could have caused him to explode, or implode, maybe pull all of the oxygen from his lungs so his body would go into shock and suffocate. But I can't really just show that without the obvious side effects.” Aurora sighed, “I should have brought a pillow out here. I need some sleep... and a break...” Her voice trailing off as she added the last part.

      Loki frowned, _Have I already discovered the limits of this mortal girl? Although, she does have to put up with my oaf of a brother and the other blundering idiots._ Waving his hand, a green silk covered pillow appeared in his hands. “Perhaps a rest will ease your mind.” he offered the pillow to her, and the rain began to soak into the smooth fabric. When she glanced at him her eyes spoken of how void she was of emotion, clenching his teeth slightly, he realised he was angry they were doing this to her. _She obviously desires more than what her little mission offered, the so-called "heroes" are draining her, was it possible for her to break more?_

      Aurora looked down at the already soaked pillow, “Thanks.” she took it and sat down on a chair that was equally drenched. “You might want to leave like the others, lighting will strike.” she warned with her eyes dully watching the sky.

      Loki nodded, “Of course…” he paused simply wondering what would happen if he was to leave her alone. He didn’t have to wonder long as a bolt of lightning came down suddenly to hit her. Her body tensed and after the strike disappeared her body glowed dimly with a shade of silver. Loki jumped back in surprise from the heat and flare of light as she simply sighed and leaned back to lay down on her chair. He noticed that the area around her that would have been scorched was entirely intact and only she had been affected by the strike.

      “I hope it doesn't insist on doing that all night.” Aurora grumbled, snapping her fingers exceedingly loudly to expel the extra energy she received. The sound could easily fight the thunder that had followed the electrical shock for dominance.

      Loki looked on at her in shock. “Ah, good night then, I hope the storm does not bother you too much.” He frowned at her calm reaction to the bolt.

      “Good night Loki and thanks for the pillow.” Aurora mumbled, already falling asleep. Loki disappeared to the roof to look down at her, he quickly cast a spell to keep the lightning away and left her to sleep peacefully in the downpour. Perhaps next time they met he would make a better attempt at becoming her ally, something those incompetent mortals would never be able to do.

      Aurora sighed, alone in the storm just like she was when she was younger, only one would try to keep her company. She would even push _him_ away, but this was her life; secrets, lies, unsaid truths.

_“You’re thinking too much.”_ A voice whispered in her mind, “ _Just let go of them. You’re better off by yourself.”_

      “No, I’m not.” Aurora answered quickly.

_“That was quick.”_ The voice was smug. _“You know I’m right, you know it deep down that I am.”_

      “No. Family makes me stronger.” Aurora almost growled in attempt to beat the voice down once more. Hearing nothing, she sighs while making herself comfortable enough to fall asleep quickly with no lightning to keep her up.

                                                                                    ….....................................

      Sitting up, Hunter looked around, she hadn’t used her own eyes in a while and the scene was unfamiliar to her. She was on a damp balcony overlooking what appeared to be New York, while she herself was laying on a lounge chair with only a wet green pillow for comfort. She frowned and swung her legs over to the side to stand. The sensation felt weird and heavy, but she stood up despite it and took the pillow which obviously did not belong out here. She moved and stretched, wincing in discomfort as her clothes and shoes squished with all the water that had absorbed. Focusing for only a moment the water evaporating from her clothing and the pillow she clutched in her hand, leaving her dry and comfortably warm.

      Hunter peered around the lounge area behind the door through the glass before entering, seeing no one, she casually strolled across the lavish room, deciding it was somewhere she was allowed to wander. Pausing for only half a second, she chooses a hallway where she senses other bodies at rest just beyond the doors. Starting past the doors she knows have people resting inside, she has time to wonder which one of the three rooms at the end of the hall is hers. Logically, one of the two farthest belongs to her, but which? Hunter fought with her body not to stiffen at the footfalls behind her.

      “Where did you get the green pillow?” A female voice asks from the end of the hall as she strode casually toward Hunter.

      Hunter turned to the women, quickly noticing that the other wasn’t smiling, so there was no need to try in return. Though in the next moment she noticed the red-headed woman was obviously a Red Room agent. Hunter doesn’t bother to glance down at the pillow in question. “What, don’t you like the colour? It can be any colour I choose. Besides, I believe I am entitled to have a pillow while I sleep, in the freezing rain, with the possibility of lightning strikes.” Her voice was cold.

      The women scoffed at her tone, “Noted: you’re even more of a bitch after a thunderstorm.”  Then the women briskly walked past her and entered the last room on the left.

      Hunter smirked, _So mine is right._ She shook her head at how easy the small confrontation was and entered her room. A calm smile spread across her face at the lack of personal effects that lay in the room, only a long denim coat tossed across the back of a reading chair. She dropped the pillow in the chair and a crease in her brow formed. _It doesn’t fit in here… Where did it, oh I see, the mysterious man. How interesting, shame I have yet to meet this man. Now that women.. I see the Black Widow, I wonder what else my dear Aurora has been up to._ Hunter wandered to the bed as she sorted through the information she had missed. Finally, she allowed the body to fall back to rest.

                                                                                    …......................................

      Aurora awoke in her room, rolled over and sat up on the bed with a yawn and quickly frowned. “How..?” She glanced around, spotting the green pillow in the chair and concluded she must have been half asleep when she had moved inside. “If I can sleepwalk, I can train.”  Aurora smirked, getting into new clothing and heading to the gym.


End file.
